


The Ball

by KrikriGod



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Past Child Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Torture, bad times, implied abusive relationship, only in the last chapter tho, there's a pretty big fire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-06-21 11:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 24,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15557016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrikriGod/pseuds/KrikriGod
Summary: Four boys wake up in an unknown room, with all their memories intact. Forced to play a twisted game by a masked woman, they relive their past memories and traumas while time ticks down to their doom: Being engulfed by an ever-growing fire.





	1. Prelude

"Finn! Finn, wake up!"

The voice sounded so close yet so far away. Finn tried to open his eyes and yet found the light coming from god-knows where to be too bright for him. The voice continued, soon joined by another.

"Fuck- You okay?"

"My head really hurts..."

That was definitely a sentiment he could relate with. Where was he? He tried opening his eyes again, wincing at the brightness. Letting himself get used to the harsh lighting, he slowly began to make out some shapes around him. He went to rub his eyes, but for some reason found himself unable to move them.

"Wha...?”

"Oh thank god- You're tied up. We all are." God, why did that voice sound so familiar? Finn turned to look in the general direction of the voice, and after letting his eyes adjust a bit more, everything slowly began to come back to him.

"Mallory...?"

"Yeah... hey." His boyfriend gave him a reassuring smile and he found himself relaxing, if only a bit. He turned to look at the owner of the other voice, finding Asher.

"Are you okay? You don't look good!"

"Quiet down a little. He's probably still sensitive to stimulus. Or something." And that would be Damian.

"Sensitive?"

"Yeah. Drugs do that to you."

"Drugs? What are you..." Finn began, but he then remembered that he went out to get some ice cream for a movie night. It was late… or maybe it was starting to get late? He couldn't remember. Either way, he got it and when he finally got home…

"I came back and you- What happened? You were unconscious and someone-"

"Yeah... I don't remember much either. One minute I was sitting down, the next..." Mallory muttered, looking around for confirmation.

"Same here... Asher?" Damian sighed, glancing over in Asher’s direction.

"I was in a park! I was having fun on the swings when someone covered my mouth and woosh! Here I am."

Covered his mouth? Now that Finn thought about it, he remembered something like that happening.

"Damian?" He asked, trying to piece together what had happened.

"Probably chloroform in that case… Or something similar? Hard to tell. I honestly don't remember much either. I was just in my apartment when the same happened."

Finn could tell that Damian wasn't telling them the whole truth, with the way he averted his eyes when he spoke, but before he could ask about anything, the sound of a door swinging open behind them resounded throughout the room.

Mallory and Asher tried turning their heads to get a better view, but eventually gave up. Only when they stopped did the person begin walking towards them, saying nothing. Finn felt as if he were right about to fall back asleep but when he felt a hand comb through his hair, he froze, too scared to look.

"Soft... how nice." The hand eventually let up, and the person- a woman?- walked up to the center of the room. Finn tried to relax, but found it especially difficult when she turned around. She was wearing a mask. A lion mask, to be specific.

"It's very nice to see you're all up! Truly, it took a little too long for my liking. We're on a strict schedule, you know?"

"Who the fuck are you?" Mallory spat. Finn couldn't have said it better himself.

"Oh, do relax! That's not important at all. I'm more interested in the four-"

"I said, who the _fuck_ are you?"

The woman paused for a moment, before walking up to Mallory and seizing his neck in both hands.

"And _I_ said. that's not _important_."

Finn couldn't help but feel angry. Well, obviously, after all this woman just began to choke his boyfriend. Asher felt the same and began to yell at her. "Stop it! You're hurting him!"

"S-stop..." Finn winced at the sound of his own voice.

The woman just scoffed and continued choking him. She seemed to be studying his reaction, and Finn even heard her giggle as Mallory loudly swore at her. As time passed, Mallory was beginning to lose his fight, the flailing getting weaker and weaker.

"Stop. What do you want?" At the sound of Damian's voice, the woman lessened up, eventually letting go. Mallory began to cough violently, finally getting some air in his lungs. The woman paid this no mind, her attention now on Damian.

"Well, that's easy! I just want to play a game. Doesn't that sound fun?" Well that wasn't terrifying at all... she stopped right in front of Damian, and sat down in his lap, something that obviously made him uncomfortable.

"What kind of game?"

"Oh, you'll see!"

Damian was about to ask another question, when she began stroking his right cheek, immediately shutting him up. She seemed pleased with herself, and shoved her thumb into his mouth; An act that shocked the others, but Damian not so much, as he immediately bit down on it. She hissed in pain and pulled back, ready to slap him, when Finn decided he had enough.

"God, stop it already!”

She turned to Finn and looked at him for a while, thinking about how to approach him, before getting off of Damian.

"Stop?" She asked quizzically, tilting her head slightly, as if she was amused.

"What the hell is wrong with you? What do you want?"

She just laughed, shaking her head a bit as if he were an unruly child in need of scolding, before responding. "Oh, sweetheart, you have no idea. Now, you don't have to be so pissy! I promise to let you go if you play my game."

"And if we decline?"

"That's not a wise choice.” She took out a pocket knife and flicked it open, pointing it at Asher. "I promise my game will definitely hurt less than a cut from this. Plus, it’s far more amusing."

Finn didn't trust this at all. He turned to look at Damian, who nodded. Damian definitely knew more than he was letting on, but he couldn’t ask about it just yet.  
"...Fine. We'll play."

"Amazing! Now, this game is a... scavenger hunt of sorts! Your first clue is this: You must backtrack to the exact moment that you realised you were free to express yourself and experience everything that you were stripped of experiencing in order to first the key."

With that, she fished a key and some matches out of her pocket and tossed the key to the side of the room. Lighting one of the matches, she looked back and laughed again.  
"You have 2 hours. Or, at least, until this place burns down."

She dropped the match on some newspapers nearby and left back the way she came.

"...What the fuck?" Mallory, who had finally stopped coughing but now had a nasty bruise and hoarse voice, looked at the small fire in concern.

"Do you have a knife?" Finn asked. Something he had learned about Mallory was that he always had at least 5 knives on him at all time. Why did he have them and where did he hide them? He had no idea.

"Shit- I'll check," Mallory began squirming around, trying to get a feel for his knives, but eventually shook his head.

"Okay. Okay what do we do?" Finn asked again, now turning to the other two for ideas.

"Dislocate your thumb and slip out?” Damian suggested.

"That really sounds like it hurts!" Asher replied.

Finn began looking around for something that could help, still trying to shake off the effects of the chloroform, and eventually found what he was looking for.

"There's one of Mallory's knives on the table!"

A snap was heard as Damian ripped his arms out of the rope, ignoring the the burn marks, and shot out of his chair to grab the knife. He immediately got to work on Mallory's chair, clumsily trying to not cut either of them, and eventually cut through the fibers. He handed the knife to Mallory, who would definitely benefit from it more, and ran off to get the key.

Finn was then freed from his bonds, followed by Asher. By the time they had gotten Finn to his feet- leaning against Mallory- the fire had tripled in size. Not too big, but big enough to not be able to put out without getting burnt.

"Okay- shit- where do we go?" Mallory asked, holding Finn’s side to steady him.

"Upstairs seems smart!" Damian nodded, already hurrying in the direction of the staircase. They all followed quickly, finding themselves in a long corridor with dozens of doors on each side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chapter of my first story on here! I'd like to thank my editor and co-author Dante (who doesn't have an account big f) for helping me out with this. Hope you all like it! I'll update pretty soon.


	2. First interlude

“What is this…” Finn was thinking aloud.

"Why the hell was your knife there?" Damian said suddenly, turning towards Mallory, who shook his head and responded.

"I don't know! Wait... does anyone have their phones?" The four of them began to rummage through their pockets, only to come up empty.

"I guess... she took everything?" Finn glanced around at everyone, looking at their empty pockets.

"Really? She actually went through our shit while we were unconscious?" Mallory scoffed, double checking his jacket pockets. Finn turned to ask Damian about the key but he paused when he saw Damian’s demeanour. He looked scared, terrified even, and was frantically checking his clothes, his skin, everything.

"Damian...?"

"Does anything look different? Out of place? Changed?"

"I- no...?"

"Are you sure? Are you 100% sure? Or- do you all feel okay? Aside from the drugs, are you okay?" The others looked at him, a little concerned.

"Yeah?" Mallory answered, a bit confused.

"I'm fine!" Asher chirped.

"You look fine and uh, aside from my head spinning, I feel fine too." Finn added last.

This seemed to calm Damian down enough, and took a deep breath before handing Finn the key.

"Sorry. Just... habit. So she said that the clue was uh... something about an experience?"

_Habit?_

"You must backtrack to the exact moment that you realised you were free to express yourself and experience everything that you were stripped of experiencing," Asher repeated.

"Right," Damian muttered, mind elsewhere. Finn couldn't help but glance at him.

"Anyone have any idea of what that could mean?" Mallory asked, rubbing the back of his neck, "Do those words mean anything to anyone?" There was a silence as the four of them gently looked around at one another. Finn cleared his throat.

"It's...probably mine, yeah."

"Coming out?" Mallory guessed.

"No, no...uh...look for a door with...a graduation cap on it? A diploma? Something along those lines..."

They all nodded in unison and began searching for the right door. Asher found it rather quickly.

"Oooh, I found it! I win!" He seemed pretty excited, considering their current situation. Finn walked over to him and squinted on the plaque on the door. He had guessed correctly, it was a graduation cap, but he seemed uneasy as he unlocked the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so. In between in major scene there's going to be a minor interlude for our characters to catch their breath. But yeah! Posting the next scene an a couple of minutes.


	3. Ceremony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First up down memory lane is Finn  
> Hope you enjoy!

Inside was what appeared to be a large auditorium. There was columns after columns of empty seats that all lead up to the stage in the front of the room, where the rickety stairs upward led you to a podium and a long array of medals, awards, trophies, and pictures of various types. The pit below the stage hosted various instruments, most of which seemed to make up a roster of a high school band. The lights overhead were focused on stage, onto the podium, but it was a bit harder to see among the paths between the chairs. There was a sense of unease in the room- almost as if it was wrong that any of them were seeing this, as if it was wrong to see it this empty and quiet, this lifeless.

"Your graduation ceremony...?" Damian muttered, but Finn didn't answer. He just started to walk between the rows of seats, gently touching the cushioning with his fingers.

The others took the hint and all went in different directions to search for the next clue, key, anything of the sort. Asher ducked under the different rows of chairs, checking underneath, but coming up empty.

Mallory made his way to the instrumental pit, knocking a few trumpets off their stands in the process. The brass instruments clattered loudly on the floor, causing Finn's head to shoot up.

"Sorry!" He whispered, for no particular reason.

"Be careful.”

Mallory nodded as Finn turned his attention back to searching the seats. Searching the pit, he came across different lesson plans and mentoring guides, but nothing seemed important...nothing but the piano, which he seemed to be drawn to. It did make sense, though. Finn plays the piano now, so he probably played it back in high school. Careful not to lean onto the keys, Mallory picked up the music sheets that were placed on the stand. He immediately noticed the small, dainty handwriting that he knew all too well. These were Finn's. Mallory glanced in Finn's direction, but he wasn't paying attention. He was busy checking in between the armrests of the chairs.

_June 1, 2015._

These dated back to 5 years ago, when Finn was 18. There wasn't anything Mallory was shocked by- there was little notes sprawled in the margins, things like; "needs practice," "could use improvement," "take hints from the flute players," "fix this key," and, Mallory's personal favorite, "be LOUD!!!" He smiled to himself as he ruffled through the pages, forgetting, just for a moment, that he was in a creepy, slightly invasive life threatening situation.

* * *

 

Damian headed up to the podium, curious about the pictures. He somewhat doubted that whatever they were looking for ( _a key? It was probably a key_ ) would be found among the frames and medals, but he couldn't help but be curious about them, especially since he wanted to see old pictures of Finn. He winced at the sound of the instruments falling and shot Mallory a dirty look, but he didn't seem to be paying attention, so Damian just continued on his path.

The awards and medals were the closest to him, and they didn't disappoint. Awards for top grades, music competitions, perfect attendance, all of which held Finn's name. Damian couldn't help but smile at that because of course Little Prince was a genius. Not that he ever thought otherwise. He finished up with the awards and quickly went onto the pictures, what he expected to be the more interesting part, which proved to be right.

Interestingly enough, it took a while to actually spot Finn in any of the pictures. He seemed to make himself look smaller in each of them, something that rubbed Damian the wrong way, but he couldn't figure out why. He took one of the class pictures and held it up to his face, in order to get a better look at Finn. He wasn't sure if it was just the lighting, or maybe his imagination, but Finn definitely looked exhausted in it. There seemed to be dark bags under his eyes, and his smile just felt off, like it was forced or fake, or both.

  
He took a look the next few pictures of him, and noted the same look, yet again, over and over, in each one. He put the pictures of Finn down and was about to ask him about it when he noticed a large collage surrounded by flowers with 'in loving memory' written directly under. Each picture seemed to contain the same girl, but one of them held both her and Finn. Finn actually looked genuinely happy in this picture. Damian had a feeling why, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

He desperately wanted to ask about the pictures and the girl, but something stopped him. Finn seemed a bit off ever since he said that it was his room. It didn't seem that the others noticed, which was a little disappointing in Mallory's case, but he couldn't blame him. Mallory wasn't the most perceptive after all. Or smart. His attitude was definitely means for concern, but he wasn't sure how much he should pry, if at all. He decided to bring it up later, when they got out. It would probably be less awkward then.

Damian set the pictures down and turned, jumping when he nearly collided with Finn.

"Fu- god, little prince, you scared me."

"Sorry."

Ah, shit. He saw him looking at the pictures.

"Have you found the key yet?" Damian asked, trying to avoid any questions.

"Not yet..." Finn muttered, eyes glancing towards the pictures of the girl behind Damian. He definitely noticed. Should he explain himself or stay silent? Finn usually isn't this cold...

Before Damian could make up his mind, Finn brushed past him and grabbed the frame with the picture of him and the mystery girl, his eyes darting all over, as if he couldn't focus on it properly. Fully aware that Damian was watching him intently, he still undid the backing and removed the picture.

"...you're taking it?" Damian asked quietly. Finn folded it neatly, creasing it to fit into his pocket. He just nodded. Damian gulped. "Alright, uh..." He set his hand on the table, unsure of where else the key could even be. In the stage curtains? Would they have to rip up the seats? Destroy the piano?

"Where did she get these things," Finn's flat tone snapped Damian out of his thoughts. Finn was holding a stuffed eagle in his hands, wearing a bright yellow shirt with what appeared to be a high school logo on it.

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"Where did she _get_ these _things_ ," Finn repeated, his sentence still a statement rather than a question.

"...the plush?"

"Everything."

"Oh, I don't really-"

"She shouldn't have these pictures."

Damian paused. He’s never seen Finn this distraught before. He was nervously- or was it angrily?- rubbing his fingers roughly across the eagle's wings.

"...yeah. She has access to a lot of things she shouldn't."

"I don't care about that," Finn continued, now pulling at the wings like he wanted to tear them off, "She doesn't deserve to have seen any of these."

"I know, little prince."

Finn had a distant look on his face. He didn't respond, still roughly pulling at the plush. Damian wanted to reach out and comfort him, but he wasn't sure how to and if Finn would even want that. Finn squeezed the plush roughly with his hands, and seemed to slowly freeze.

"...little pri-"

"Do you have a knife?"

Okay, Damian was definitely worried. "No?"

"Mallory," Finn called out, staring down at the plush in his hands. "Come here."

Mallory's head snapped up from the papers he was looking at, a faint smile still on his face.

"Ah, alright," He set everything down and crawled out of the instrument pit, walking up to the stage to join the two of them. “What's up?"

"Give me your knife."

Damian had to hold back from rolling his eyes as Mallory glanced up at him in concern. At least now he's aware that Finn isn't acting like himself.

"Uh, okay?" Mallory reached into his pocket and flicked out his pocket knife, placing it on Finn's outstretched palm.

Finn, who still hadn't taken his eyes off of the plush, flicked open the knife without saying anything. Then he made both of the other two flinch as he suddenly dug the knife into the eagle's stomach.

There was a terrified gasp behind them that Finn didn't react to, but the other two turned to look at.

"Why are you killing him?!" Asher cried, distraught.

Stuffing was pouring out onto Finn's hands, and the tearing sounds of the fabric just made Asher more upset. It went on for a bit longer before Asher couldn't handle it anymore and reached towards Finn's hands in an attempt to stop him.

"Fifi, stop it!"

"No, wait-"

The struggle over the toy caused something that was lodged into the stuffing fall and clatter at Finn's feet. Asher's hands were gently placed over Finn's, which had stopped moving.

Damian bent down and picked up what had fallen.

"The key," He muttered, giving Finn a quick glance. Finn seemed to process that information and set the stuffed animal on the table, Asher's hands falling back to his sides. He pouted, partly over the eagle and partly over Finn.

Well, now everyone knew he wasn't in the right state of mind, right?

"Let’s go," Finn mumbled, avoiding eye contact with the three of them as he walked off the stage.

Damian sighed and dug through the remains of the plush to find the next clue, earning a pouty look from Asher. Damian felt a piece of paper and took it, deciding to read it once they were out of the room. He didn't like the aura that was in here. Angry. Hesitant. Reflective. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the three on stage over Finn’s unruly behavior as they followed behind him and outside the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene was mostly written by Dante (love you man) and I wrote like 2 paragraphs, which is why this chapter is probably loads better.


	4. Second Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for the boys to catch their breath before continuing on

The tense aura seemed to follow them outside, though significantly less intense. It was obvious that they all wanted answers, wanted to know what the fuck _happened_ back there, but Damian stopped them.

“We’ll ask about it when we get out of here, okay?” he whispered to Asher and Mallory, who nodded after thinking for a bit.

Of course, that wasn’t satisfying in the slightest. Finn’s actions back there were unexpected, and terrifying in a way. Especially for Asher, who had to watch the poor plush get ripped to shreds. Damian knew that something was up, having been paying close attention to him, but he couldn’t piece together just what happened. He’d definitely ask later.

“So uh… what does the clue say?” Mallory asked, trying to diffuse the situation. Damian took a look at the slip of paper.

“To get the next key, you must return to the room where your fellow sister gave you your greatest treasure… sister?”

“Oh! Oh! That’s me!” Asher cried excitedly.

“Wait, you have a sister?” Mallory asked, confused.

“Nope!”

“But he said your fellow sister?”

“Yup!”

Asher and Mallory kept going back and forth like this, while Damian paid close attention to Finn. He was looking at the picture that he took with him. A dead girl who was close to him, huh…? He shook himself out of his thoughts and shut his eyes for a bit. God, he really wanted to comfort Finn, but he probably didn’t want to be touched right now. That, plus Mallory was there. Which might make it a little weird.

“Alright, uh, we should probably look for your door, then, doll.” Damian cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away from Finn.

“Right!” Asher replied, skipping to look at all the doors to find his own. Not even 10 seconds later, Asher managed to find it. The door had an image of a bear burned into the wood, an image that seemed to excite him. He didn't even wait for the other three to walk over, he just unlocked the door and swung it open, squealing about someone named Maggie.

_Who the hell is Maggie?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are highly appreciated I will love you forever.


	5. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asher's turn for memories

"I was right! I was right! It's her house!"

The room looked like a bedroom of sorts, probably a parent's room. It had a bit of a rustic feel to it, with all the furniture and even the walls and floor made of wood. The room included a large bed that Asher threw himself onto, a large, locked, wooden chest at the end of the bed, a bedside table, a lamp, and a fireplace. Mallory went over to the chest, trying to pick the lock, Finn went over to the table, finding papers with cryptic messages, and Damian went over to the fireplace, looking for a secret room.

"Hey, Finn, find anything useful?" Mallory asked, hoping that Finn would respond.

Finn didn’t look up from the papers, he just kept going through them. Mallory was about to lose hope of a response from him but Finn started up, speaking quietly.

“I, um… I might have found a code... or… something...”

Mallory couldn't help but smile a bit at the sound of Finn's voice. It was good that he was talking. Of course, it was obvious that something happened in that room, but he didn't know what and he knew now was a bad time to ask. Though, the fact that Finn actually replied meant that it wasn't something completely horrible, which was reassuring. 

"Damian, how about you?"

"I think there's something here? I can make out some symbols... They kinda feel like buttons. Did anyone see an upside down triangle anywhere?"

"Lemme check,” Mallory muttered, going to look around the room for the symbol Damian spoke of. Asher, meanwhile, rolled off the bed, landing with a quiet oof. He cheerfully walked over to Mallory, tapping his shoulder.

"Hmm...what's up?" Mallory answered distractedly.

"Can you help me move the bed?"

Mallory now turned fully to Asher, a bit confused by the request, but shrugged and went to fulfill it. They quickly moved the bed and Asher crouched down to get a better view of something before running off to the fireplace. Finn and Mallory looked down at the spot that was now revealed to them only to notice a trap door with symbols carved into it. Asher pressed the buttons on the fireplace in some kind of order, which opened up the trap door, revealing a set of descending stairs.

"How," Mallory asked, though it didn’t come out as much of a question.

"It was obvious! I knew there was a door under the bed the moment I ran in!" Asher responded, eyes practically twinkling at the sight.

"What the- how?"

"I just did!" Asher began to climb down the stairs.

It was obvious that further questioning wouldn't get them anywhere, so they gave up and followed him down. By the time they hit the bottom step, Asher was already hugging a teddy bear. This new room definitely had a different feel to it, with the dark cloaks scattered everywhere and the creepy drawings of dark blobs nailed to the wall.

"Is that a fucking sacrificial dagger?" Mallory asked, eyeing it.

"Screw the dagger, why the fuck is there a puddle of blood in the corner?" Damian retorted.

As Damian and Mallory fought over whether or not this place was straight out of a horror movie- with Damian occasionally checking Finn- Finn took a deep breath, trying to ground himself, and walked up to Asher, more than a little concerned. Asher didn't seem to care about the odd state of the room at all, though he did hug the teddy bear tighter to him as Finn approached.

"Asher...? What is this place?"

"It's mommy's secret room! Maggie and I would always come down here to play games! She gave me her teddy in here... I was really happy."

Yeah...that didn't really help. Asher kissed the bear and looked around the room, carefully taking everything in. He really missed this place... He had some much fun playing hide and seek. Of course, mommy would always find him. Especially when they needed to go out for the town meetings and ceremonies, then she found him super quick! Though, this room didn't look exactly like the real one. There were so many huge mistakes. Did the masked woman really think he wouldn't notice?

"Whoever's behind this is really dumb! She got everything wrong! Mommy used red candles, not white ones! And she kept 5 cloaks, not 7! Oh! And she always kept her sacrificial daggers locked in the chest back upstairs! Plus, the stairs are made of the wrong type of wood, and they have 1 more step than they should," He pouted a bit, walking over to the cloaks, "I mean, it's weird that someone actually recreated this room though... outsiders weren't supposed to even know of our town..." That was a bit worrying to him, but he was sure there was a good reason for it. He dug through the cloak pockets, eventually taking out a key and a small paper. "Okey-dokey! We can go!"

"Wait, already?" Mallory looked over in surprise, mid-argument with Damian.

"Huh... alright," Damian looked over as well, giving Mallory one final glare before walking back towards the stairs.

Mallory looked over at the dagger, itching to grab it, but decided against it as he felt it would be rude to do so. After all, it wasn't his room...but it might come in handy. Before he could even go for it, Finn gave him a look which deterred him from going to grab it. They left the room, Asher taking one final, nostalgia filled glance before they closed the door behind him.

They hadn’t expected this room to go by so fast, especially taking the entire puzzle element into account, but it wasn’t that big of a surprise. Asher always had a knack for finding things and solving puzzles. Not to mention that he’d been in that room before, even if it wasn’t a perfectly replica, as he had so adamantly stated. But no matter, this game wasn't finished yet. They still had another key to use.


	6. Third Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another really short interlude for the boys

“What’s the paper say?” Damian asked, once again trying to diffuse the slight tension between them. Asher handed the crumpled paper over to Mallory, who smoothed the wrinkles out before reading it.

“Next is the place where you learned of freedom and that the world didn’t only consist of evil,” Mallory read it over to himself again, only to shrug. It made no sense to him. He handed it over to Damian, who seemed to know exactly what it was referencing. He read the paper aloud again and groaned.

“Great. Yeah, that’s mine. Look for a coffee cup. Something with coffee,” As he said this, he looked over at Finn, looking a little embarrassed, though Finn didn’t notice. Finn would definitely remember that day. Great. Not awkward in the slightest. Asher had already ran off, looking for the door, and had once again found it with ease. The other three headed over to the door and Asher gave Damian the key.

“Do you wonder what would happen if we opened the wrong door?” Asher asked.

“I’d imagine flammable gas. We’d all blow up,” Damian calmly stated, unlocking the door with a coffee bean on it. “Oh yeah, the fire. How bad is it?” Asher ran off once again before Finn could warn him to be cautious and headed off down the staircase.

“Mm, almost the entire floor is on fire!”

“Well fuck.”

“Let’s try to go a little faster I guess?” Mallory suggested.

“Mhm, and try not to think of it too much. If we do, we’ll probably just panic…”

“At the Disco?” Finn muttered, trying to lighten the situation.

“Cool, I’m officially ending this conversation!” Damian yelled at them, already inside of the room. When the others entered, they found themselves in a café.


	7. Coffee Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian's turn for some Fun Times.

Damian was already behind the counter, looking at the coffee machines. They split up again, Asher deciding to check the tables again, Mallory heading to the back room, and Finn to the counter.

“So why a coffee shop? And what did the paper mean by evil?” Mallory asked, his voice muffled by the door.

“It’s uh… it’s a long story. I’ll explain it eventually,” Damian mumbled distractedly, checking the switches on the machines.

Mallory was in the back room, shoving his hands into sacks of coffee beans, searching for keys in them. It seemed like he wouldn’t find anything, but he would, however, knock over one of the bags and narrowly avoid get buried in coffee beans.

* * *

 

Asher knew he wouldn’t find any kind of secret room or panel or anything, especially since it would be especially lackluster if there were two in a row, but he had a feeling that he would find something else. While checking one of the booths, he found a piece of paper stuck between the cushion and the backboard. He carefully took it out, a big smile on his face, but it fell when he read it.

It was a little hard to read, but he eventually made it out. It looked like it was just a reminder of which drinks to get. He rushed over to Damian, tugging on his shirt. Damian jumped a bit, looking a little shaken.

“Sorry doll, my mind was ah… elsewhere.”

“It’s okay! I found a paper though! It looks like an order!”

Damian knew not to ignore it. He knew everything she did had a meaning behind it, meaning that his paper should help them in some way.

“What’s it say?”

“Salted caramel mocha frapp… frappuccino? With extra caramel!”

Asher had no idea what that was, but it sounded really good! Mostly because of the salted caramel part though.

“God, that sounds great right about now…” Finn stomach rumbled a bit at the thought of the drink. He hadn’t eaten much before this, had he?

“And a black coffee? Yuck,” Asher continued.

Finn, having heard this, went around the counter, figuring that he should probably look at the machines used specifically for those. He made sure to thank Asher for finding the paper as he did so.

* * *

 

Damian’s mind was going into overdrive. He remembered this day, the order, everything. Was the paper there to taunt him? To help him? He knew that the clue for the room was to taunt him, it wouldn’t take a genius to realise that, but was she angry? Would she have trapped anything in this room? He quickly turned to the machines that Finn was checking, and tried to see if there were any weird mechanisms, but there were none. With that wave of brief panic over, he realised that no, if she had trapped anything, Asher would have noticed. Besides, nothing else _had_ been, so far at least.

Even more concerning was the fact that Finn knew. He was there during this day, so he knew that something was up, even if he didn’t say it aloud. After all, why would this be such an important memory to him? It was just a normal trip to a café where he met a cute boy, it shouldn’t have been special to him... Of course, he didn't know the full story.

To mask his nerves, he turned back to the various syrups, pretending to look for the key to hide his shaking. This shaking would only give him away, and he didn’t even know why he _was_. It’s not like this room was horrible, it was the opposite in fact, but it was just too much for him right now. There was no way she could have possibly known about this day, unless she had been watching him. Though, at this point, it wouldn't be surprising if she did. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to ignore the fact that Finn was most definitely staring at him right now. Just breathe. He probably- no, _definitely_ \- knows what this room means, but it's fine. _It's fine_.

"Hey."

"Hey," Damian tensed when he felt Finn brush beside him.

"Doing okay?"

Damian nodded and opened his eyes, turning to give Finn a shaky smile. Finn remained unconvinced. He looked away, tapping his fingertips on the counter.

"What do these rooms mean?"

God, how Damian was dreading this question. "Well...uh."

"Yeah?"

"This room...it's a good memory for me. Doll seemed pretty happy in his room, too...so I'd assume they're meant to represent good memories," Finn remained silent, glancing at Damian from the corner of his eyes, "It might be that but... You seemed pretty tense back in yours, so I'm not sure."

"...this room is a good memory for you?"

_God damn it, Finn._

Damian took another deep breath, slowly letting it out. Like hell he was going to confess that meeting Finn was the best day of his life, it would just confirm _her_ suspicions. "Yeah, but ignoring that for now; Your room. Was it a bad memory?"

"...no. It wasn't," Finn pursed his lips and turned his eyes back to face directly ahead of him. It wasn't...why was he so tense, then? And what did that girl have to do with this? Why has he never mentioned her to anyone? Mallory, especially? Damian masked his thought process by nodding.

"Then it's probably safe to assume that they're supposed to represent good...or, okay-ish memories," Damian replied. Finn only blinked, his fingers still drumming against the counter. Damian stared at him as he continued. "We're all going to want answers, for sure...but later. Now's not a good time."

Finn knew what that meant, and he didn't like it. He sighed, not making direct eye contact. It seemed like he would respond, but he merely pushed himself off of leaning on the counter and wandered to the back room to join Mallory. Damian hesitantly turned back to the counter. He was even more curious and concerned now. More of the latter, though.

* * *

 

Finn opened the door to the back room and released a sea of coffee beans to overflow and pour out onto his feet. He looked up at Mallory with a puzzled expression.

"It might be in the bags," Mallory answered in response to his confused look.

"Ah."

"No luck so far."

Finn settled beside Mallory, digging his hands into the bag next to the one he was searching. The smell of coffee was overwhelmingly powerful. It made Finn's stomach grumble.

"Doing okay?"

"Huh?" Finn turned to look at Mallory, but he was focused on searching the bottom of his bag. "Yeah...?"

"Cool, cool...just a little worried."

"Worried?"

"Yeah. This entire situation, you know? It's so weird...I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It isn't your fault."

"I guess so, but I should've protected you better."

Finn let the coffee beans run through his fingers as he listened to him. God, this wasn't helping his hunger.

"My throat still fucking hurts..." Mallory groaned. Despite it happening a while ago, he still had extremely visible bruises on his neck. "When we get out of here, I'm getting you ice cream." Finn couldn't help but smile.

"Here," he pulled his hands out of the coffee beans and reached towards Mallory's neck, "Let me see again."

"Oh! Uh, sure," Mallory moved closer, tucking his hair behind his ear and out of the way. "How bad is it?"

Finn bit his lip, inhaling. "Pretty bad… does it hurt when I touch it...?" Finn lightly pressed against the bruising, earning a wince from Mallory.

"A bit..." Mallory locked eyes with Finn and grabbed his hand, kissing it. Finn fully smiled now.

"I'll go see what I can find to help with the bruising." He pulled his hand back, placing it on Mallory's shoulder to help push himself up. He left the back room and went to check on Asher, who was in the front of the room, looking at the paintings near the entrance, still hugging the teddy bear from his room earlier.

"Find anything?"

"Hm?" Asher turned, smiling when he saw Finn. "Nope! Not yet. I only found the paper so far...Oh, I did find out that all the rooms what we didn't check aren't rooms at all! It's just the door, plus if what Damian said was right, a mechanism that'll do something bad!" He had been knocking at the walls and floors, and noticed that the knocks sounded different for the side walls. He had quickly walked out of the room on noticed that to the right was Finn's room, and to the left was some door decorated with butterflies. Of course, that meant the butterfly door didn't contain a room at all! At least, that was his thought process. It made sense to him.

"Mhm! Now we have a way to know if a door is the right one!"

"Yeah, good job." Finn ruffled Asher's hair and he let out a little squeak of delight. He hugged Finn tightly.

"Thanks! I'll continue looking!" Before Finn could comment, Asher let go and skipped off, looking for more clues.

* * *

 

"Hungry?" Damian questioned from over the counter as he heard Finn's stomach growl yet again. Finn looked up guiltily, smiling sheepishly.

"Uh, yeah. I haven't eaten in a while..." When was the last time Finn ate? Damian tried to think back to it, but his head was too fuzzy to think about anything other than what was happening directly in front of him, which happened to be Finn walking towards him. Wait, shit, Finn was walking towards him. "It's been like two days...I've been busy."

"That's not healthy, Finn." As if he was any better.

"Yeah, yeah..." Finn sighed and picked up the syrup bottles, tipping them slightly. Damian set down the empty cookie jar he was looking at and looked over in Finn's direction.

"Are there any spoons?" Finn asked suddenly.

"Spoons?"

"Yeah."

"Uh, no...? There's a few of those small ones that they use to mix coffee over with the straws, but..."

Finn went over, caramel bottle in hand, and rummaged through the plastic, humming to himself. Before Damian could ask what he was up to, Finn squirted some of the caramel onto the spoon and ate it. It made him gag.

"What?" Finn mumbled defensively, putting more caramel onto the spoon, "It's just caramel."

"It's disgusting." Finn ate the second spoonful and Damian had to look away. "That's so gross."

"It's just candy, Damian." Damian was trying not to throw up. "Not very filling, but still..." Finn went quiet, and Damian cautiously glanced over his shoulder to see him struggling with the bottle.

"What is it...?" He questioned.

"It won't come out...something is stuck." Finn unscrewed the cap and looked inside. "...ah."

"What...?" Finn reached into the bottle carefully and pulled out a key covered in caramel. It dripped onto his hands. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Mallory, Asher, stop looking! We found it."

Distant cries of "Whaaaaat no fair!" and "Thank god, I can't smell anything but coffee," were heard in the other room.

"Here, Damian."

"Wh- oh. Right." Damian fumbled to grab a napkin as Finn handed him the key, his fingers covered with caramel. Damian held back another gag at the thought of it.

"We're done here, then, yeah?" Finn asked, beginning to lick the caramel off of his fingers.

Damian watched as Finn licked his fingers, simultaneously storing it in the back of his memory for later use and trying his best not to too turned on because that would definitely be hard to explain, especially to Mallory. God, why did none of these rooms have a fucking bathroom? Finn stuck the tip of his index finger in his mouth, lightly sucking at it, and let go with a _pop_ that sent a shiver down Damian’s spine.

“I’m gonna… go.” Damian quickly left the room, pretending to focus on wiping the key clean, and the others followed suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, as well as kudos, are well appreciated!


	8. Fourth Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A really short interlude before the next room. I promise the chapters will get longer.

They waited for Damian to clean off the excess caramel, not wanting to risk getting the key stuck in the lock. They didn't know what would happen if they managed to break a door, and a part of them really didn't want to learn.

“Is it alright to assume that this is probably mine?” Mallory asked, looking at it.

“Wouldn’t be too surprised if it was.”

Damian handed the key and clue over to Mallory, who quickly handed it to Asher because the kid really looked like he was going to murder Mallory if he took this job away from him. Asher gave him a bright smile and wiped some more of the caramel off the clue before reading it.

“This next key can be found where you learned of love at first sight.”

Though the hint itself was pretty broad, one person was left, and it fit perfectly for him. Oh, this would definitely be a good room, Mallory smiled to himself and took the clue to read over it again.

“Alright, look for a party hat. Something having to do with a party.”

Unsurprisingly, they found the room without issue. Mallory rubbed his thumb against the party hat burned into the door, smiling to himself. Yeah, this was a good room. A great room, actually. He dropped his hand down to the doorknob and unlocked it easily, his smiling getting bigger as he opened the door and walked inside.


	9. Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mallory's turn! Just because each of the 4 had their room, don't think it's over.

They all found themselves in a living room. Mallory and Finn would recognise it as Taylor’s house, having been there for many parties before. It was a fairly large room, containing more than enough sofas and chairs. There was a large table in the center of the room, covered in empty bowls and cans of beer and soda, also presumably empty. The fireplace, unlike in Asher’s room, was lit, giving a comforting glow to the room. There were also smaller pieces of furniture and objects, a vase here, a board game there. Even without the symbol, it was more than obvious that there was a party here.

Damian immediately headed to one of the sofas and checked under the cushions, under the sofa itself, and felt around. When he didn’t find anything, he plopped down on it, getting himself comfortable.

“You boys have fun. I’m taking a fucking nap.”

“Really? Remember the fire? It would be great if you could help,” Mallory retorted, his mood immediately souring just a bit. Damian turned his back to him, snuggling into the cushions. It didn’t seem like he was going to move anytime soon. Mallory tisked and began walking towards the sofa but he felt a hand tugging at his jacket. He looked down and saw Finn, who was shaking his head gently.

“Just… let him rest. I’m sure he’ll help soon.” Mallory couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed that Finn was protecting Damian, but whatever. This was a good room for him and he was planning on enjoying it.

"Fine. Whatever," he mumbled, turning away from Damian. "So... was that caramel actually good?"

"Oh, you saw me eating that?" Finn’s cheeks reddened up at the thought of his boyfriend seeing that. "Yeah, it was alright. Not a meal by any means, but it's something."

Mallory nodded to himself, before nudging Finn and grinning. "Nah, I only saw you licking the caramel off your fingers."

"Oh, shut up..."

"I’m just kidding. But really, did it help?"

"Yeah, a little...I'm still really hungry. I'll be alright, though."

"You sure? I mean, there's gotta be some food here..."

Mallory looked over at the table with the bowls, before giving Asher a questioning look. Asher looked under the table before shaking his head. Shit, that wasn't good.

"I just want to get out of here. It's a bit weird being in Taylor's living room when it isn't really...Taylor's living room." Finn continued.

"Yeah... this room is way too accurate to the real one. How the hell does she know these things?"

It seemed to be an exact recreation of the day he met Finn. Well, to be fair, he wasn't sure if it was really the same, as he spent more time looking at Finn than at the surroundings, but it looked like the parts he remembered.

"I don't know..." Finn whispered, folding his arms around his chest, "I don't know and I don't like it." Noting this, Mallory hugged Finn, pulling away only to kiss his forehead.  
"Hey, I'm sure we'll get out soon. And, I mean, hey! We each got our own room right? She has to let us out."

"Yeah… yeah, hopefully."

* * *

 

Asher had moved to the large table, checking the bowls for food. He remembered that Finn’s tummy was growling in the last room, and even resorted to eating the caramel! He understood why. Finn was hungry, and caramel was great too, but who’s to know how long it was there for? Besides, it really wouldn’t fill him up for long. After quickly searching around the whole room once again, he concluded that, no, there was no food.

Pouting, Asher decided to check the cans instead, but wasn’t paying too much attention to them. He was busy thinking about the rooms and how everyone reacted to them. Finn looked really distressed after his, and it kind of made Asher scared. Did it bring up some bad memories? He completely understood, not being a stranger to those, but it kind of left him curious. Damian seemed lukewarm towards his, and Mallory, well, he was having a fun time right now talking to Finn, and his own room was really great, he even got a teddy bear! Thinking about it for too long made his head hurt, so he decided that he should probably ask Damian later. After all, he seemed to know more than he let on.

Properly thinking of the rooms, why was his room so decently recreated? Sure, it was pretty bad, and he noticed a lot of errors in the room, it was still a recreation. No one was supposed to know about his town, let alone actually explore it. The council and Father made sure that no outsiders ever found it, and if they somehow did, they made sure the outsider never spoke of it. Thinking about his town made his head hurt even more.

 _Change the topic_ , he thought to himself. He began to hum a song, still checking the cans, and he eventually found one that was a bit heavy and made a clattering sound when shaken. He tipped the can into his hand, squeaking when some of the leftover liquid hit his hand, and out fell a key with a small tag attached.

“Dinner time?” Well that’s a… weird hint. He walked over to Damian and shook him softly, trying to wake him up. Damian let out a sigh and got up, rubbing his eyes. Noticing the key, he grinned and ruffled Asher’s hair, praising him for yet another job well done.

“Alright, let’s go!” He said, getting off the couch.

Finn and Mallory stopped their conversation and turned to the other two, noticing the key that Asher held with pride. They seemed a little surprised a first, but then visibly relaxed. One step closer to freedom.

“The hint says ‘Dinner time’ so… a dining hall?” Damian assumed.

Finn’s stomach rumbled again at that. “Hope so…”


	10. Dinner Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the middle of the story! From here on out both the fire and the warnings will be a lot more prominent

They quickly left the room, trying to keep up with Asher, and eventually found themselves in front of a large doorway. A nameplate next to it displayed the words _Dining room_. They unlocked the doors to find what the name suggested. A dining room. It wasn’t empty, though. There was that woman again, sitting at the end of a table, facing them. Watching them.

“Oh! Why, hello there! Please, do sit down. I’ve spent hours making all this just for you,” She purred.

On the table was multiple platters, all varying in size, all covered. There was also an opened bottle of red wine, the woman swirling a glass of the liquid.

“Is it bad that I want to punch her? Because I really just want to deck her in her face right now,” Mallory muttered under his breath.

“As much as I understand that feeling, I wouldn’t do it if I were you,” Damian mumbled before walking into the room. “So, let me guess. You want us to sit down and relax? Oh, and, we _have_ to? No choice in the matter?” he added, a bit louder.

The woman just nodded and motioned to the empty seats. There were 5 total, 4 on the sides and another at the other end. Damian quickly took one of the chairs closest to the woman, so the others wouldn’t have to. The others didn’t move, not trusting this at all.

“Is this really a good idea?” Mallory asked, looking over at Finn.

“We don’t have a choice,” Finn sighed.

After a bit more hesitation, they all took their seats, Finn at the other end and Asher and Mallory to his sides. The woman leaned over the table and lifted the covers off each dish, revealing delicious meals, still steaming.

“Now, dig in!” She boasted.

The room fell silent, no one made a move for the food, or to leave. Mallory gave Damian a concerned look, who gave him back a serious, almost cautious, look. Eventually, the silence was broken by Finn’s stomach. His face grew red and he slowly reached for one of the serving spoons, only for Damian to grab his arm.

“Look, I… I don’t think it would be smart the eat the food.”

“...I know, but I’m starving.”

“I know, but she’s not forcing you to eat it.”

“Of course I’m not. Though, of course, he _is_ starving. Wouldn’t it be _safer_ for him to eat?” She quickly replied.

Damian took a deep breath and let go of Finn’s arm, still hesitant. Damian and the woman watched as Finn dumped some of the food on his plate and cautiously began to eat it with small, quiet bites. Asher was playing with his sleeves, not paying attention, and Mallory seemed to be staring the woman down. Damian had been watching Finn intently, as if searching for signs of _something_ , which is why he was the only one to notice it.

* * *

 

Finn had been trying not to scarf the food down, knowing that he would probably throw up if he did, but he still ate relatively quickly, as he was starving. After a few minutes, he began coughing. It was small, almost imperceivable, but it was still there. It slowly grew worse, the coughs wracking his small figure more than before, and it morphed into something worse. He was wheezing, his breath not coming out right. It felt as if someone was choking the life out of him.

“Finn!” Damian practically screamed, getting up from his chair so fast that he knocked it over. He rushed to Finn’s side, swearing loudly. This managed to grab Asher and Mallory’s attention, who quickly noticed what was going on.

“Is Fifi choking?” Asher asked, a note of terror in his voice.

“Fuck! Okay, okay uh, let me do the heimlich-” Mallory stuttered.

“No, idiot! It’s fucking poison!” Damian exclaimed, the panic evident in his voice.

The other two froze up, letting his words sink in. Poison. Finn had been poisoned. The woman chuckled a bit and continued to watch.

“What kind?!” Mallory hissed, pushing the plate away.

“I don’t fucking know! Shit- Look for an antidote!” Damian answered, trying to find a way to slow Finn’s symptoms.

Mallory and Asher hesitantly broke off, dashing around the room. Finn’s condition only got worse. He curled up on himself, twitching, tears forming in his eyes from the pain. He was clawing at his throat, trying to get Damian to understand that _his throat was constricting_.

“I know! God, okay, okay, just hang in there, alright? It’ll be fine. They’ll find the antidote. You’ll be fine. Try to calm down. I know it’s hard, but trust me!”

Finn didn’t hear any word of that. His blood rushing in his ears. Dark spots danced across his vision.

He felt like he was _dying_.

“I don’t see anything!” Asher called out, his voice a little weird. Was he crying?

“Okay, switch! I’ll look for the goddamn antidote myself!” Damian yelled, quickly rushing away from Finn’s side.

Mallory quickly rushed over to Finn, taking Finn’s hand in his own. He softly massaged the hand, trying to whisper reassuring words to him. Asher followed suit, trying to calm him down with no luck. The twitching began to slow down, and Mallory screamed in fear.

* * *

 

Damian didn’t look around for the antidote. He knew there would be nothing in this room. He instead walked to the woman and got on his knees, bowing his head, when the others weren't watching.

“Please- Oh god, please, please, _please_ give me the antidote.”

“And why should I?” The woman sounded pleased with herself.

“I’ll do _anything_ ,” Damian swallowed his pride, regretting it when she took time to think about her answer. He didn’t have to wait too long to receive it, though.

“Fine. But remember, you _owe_ me.”

He could just see her lecherous smile under that mask, but he couldn’t care less. She took out a small needle and handed it to Damian, who ran over to Finn and plunged it into his neck. Of course, it was possible that this wasn’t the antidote, but he doubted it would be anything but. She couldn't be that cruel.

It didn’t take too long for the antidote to work, but it was still long enough to terrify the others. Asher had continued to cry, still hugging Finn’s body, though not too tightly. Mallory was still stroking Finn’s hair, tears pricking at his eyes. Damian was watching Finn’s expression intently, waiting for a change, waiting for some proof that he was okay. After a few more minutes, Finn’s eyes began to twitch, and Damian let out a sigh of relief.

“I think… I think he’ll be okay.”

Mallory just nodded, continuing to mumble incoherent words, though most like just curses. When Finn finally opened his eyes, he was disoriented. Everything hurt, especially his throat. He opened his mouth to ask what the _hell_ had happened, but only a weak croak came out. Asher hugged him tighter, somehow crying even more.

“You’re okay! You’re- You’re okay!” he whispered, his voice cracking.

Finn made a quiet grunt, closing his eyes again. He didn’t want to move, didn’t want to do anything. He just wanted to sleep.

“Look uh… I know it’s a bad time but, we really need to get moving,” Damian hated how cold it sounded, but he was right. He was terrified by what happened, but he was even more terrified by what would happen if they didn’t get out before the fire got to them.

“Just… Just give us some time. Look for the next key I guess….” Mallory whispered, running Finn’s hair through his fingers.

Damian nodded and got up, noting that the woman had gotten up and left in the midst of the panic. She was obviously still watching them from somewhere, though, Damian knew that. He walked over to the table, noticing that one of the dishes was still uncovered. _Of course they didn’t check it_ , he thought to himself, annoyed that they somehow missed such an important detail. He uncovered it himself, finding the key and… a postcard? He took both back to the others, placing the postcard on the ground in front of them.

“Does this uh… mean anything to you guys?”

Asher looked at it quickly, not wanting to spend too much time on something other than Finn, and shook his head. Mallory took a bit longer to pull himself away from Finn, and froze when he saw the card.

“Is- Is that a joke?”

  
“No…?” Damian looked back down at the card, trying to figure out what was so weird about it. It was postcard for some kind of beach in California, apparently. It looks pretty rough, with frayed edges and stains.

“That’s not- She can’t- No. Just, no. We’re not doing this.”

“What? We have to, we don’t have a choice!”

“I said no!” Mallory snapped, furious. Finn winced at the sudden tone, letting out a soft groan that immediately filled Mallory with regret. Damian, on the other hand, was getting annoyed.

“ _Look_ , Mallory. I need you to listen to me very carefully. I don’t know what this means to you, but I do know that if we stay here any longer, bad things will happen to us. Do you want to get us all burned alive?”

“Of course no-”

“Then tell us what this means to you.”

Mallory took a few seconds to answer, seemingly trying to build up courage. “The beach. Look for something with… a beach.” Damian nodded and quickly left the room, probably going to search for the door. Mallory looked back down at the card and grimaced, holding Finn a little closer to himself, before standing up.

“It’s okay Finn… It’s going to be okay.”

Asher went to grab the card but was stopped short by Mallory, who gave him a dirty look. Dejected, Asher quickly kissed Finn’s cheek and ran off after Damian.  
Mallory had a bad feeling of what would happen next. A really bad feeling. He followed the others, trying to calm his own breathing now. He wasn’t prepared for this. It was enough that his boyfriend almost died because of fucking _poison_ , but now this? God, he really hoped he was wrong.


	11. Fifth Interlude

It wasn't hard to find the others, just a couple doors down from where the dining room was. The door was already open, and they seemed confused about something.

“How can she recreate a whole beach?” Asher questioned.

“I honestly have no idea… what the hell?”

They waited for Mallory, who seemed to be a bit paler than usual, before walking into the room. Mallory couldn’t even get one foot in- he quickly turned around and stomped out.

“I can’t- I fucking can’t. Please don’t make me go in there.”

“Mallory? Are you okay?” Asher walked back out, reaching for Mallory’s hand but Mallory quickly flattened himself against the wall, his breathing a bit heavy. Asher took a step back, not having expected this reaction. “Um… It’s okay! You don’t have to go in if you don’t want to!” Right as he said that, a crackling sound was heard, followed by the woman’s voice.

“Actually, as this is Mallory’s room. He has to go in. Even better, he has to be the one to get the key!” Finn seemed to shrink at the voice, scaring Mallory even more.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god- I seriously can’t.”

Having noticed that the others didn’t follow after him, Damian returned back to the hallway. It didn’t look good. Mallory was shaking in fear, repeating a mantra of _I can’t_.

“Hey, doll. Can you hold little prince? I think Mallory’s gonna drop him.”

Asher gasped and carefully took Finn out of Mallory’s arms, holding him with disturbing ease. Damian cupped Mallory’s face and shushed him.

“Mallory, look. I know that it’s bad but you have to. Think about it as ripping off a band aid. It’s best if you do it quick.”

“Damian. I can’t _fucking_ swim.”

That took Damian aback. Yeah, he really didn’t expect that one.

“Okay… uh, well, she said that you had to be the one to get the key, but she didn’t say that you couldn’t get help. One of us can help you swim. How about that?”

“Damian, seriously I… I can’t.”

“How about this… if you go, I’ll let you punch me.” Mallory cracked a bit of a smile at that, and Damian took it as a small victory.

“That sounds great but…” He sighed. If he didn’t they’d die. But even if he did… It was a bad memory. A really, really bad memory. Maybe if he just… shut his eyes? That could work, right? He knew it wouldn’t work, but he had to do it. He’d have to just force himself. He nodded, relief obvious in Damian’s face.

He gently took Mallory’s hand, and before leading him into the room, took a look at the staircase. He could see the fire reaching the top of the stairs, he could hear the crackling. Going back down definitely wasn't an option anymore. They needed to hurry.


	12. Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mallory's room again! I guess just a quick tw for attempted child murder and drowning

They found themselves on a sandy hill, overlooking a small beach. There were umbrellas, towels, and empty beer bottles scattered everywhere This room was larger than any of the previous ones. At the end of the room, beside a painted sky, there was a tiny island. On the island was a small table with a key on envelope on it.

They cautiously walked down the the beach, Damian whispering encouraging words the whole way. Asher carefully laid Finn down on one of the towels, joining the others. Damian squeezed Mallory’s hand encouragingly before letting go.

“Alright, you just need to help Mallory swim to the other side, okay? Simple and easy. I’ll stay with little prince.” The other two nodded, and Damian walked off to Finn, sitting down next to him.

* * *

 

Mallory looked at the water, biting his bottom lip.

“It’ll be okay Mallory! I’m a really good swimmer! Just hold on okay?”

Mallory just nodded, looking sicker as he walked to the shore, jumping back when he felt the water lap at his feet. “Fuck- I _really_ can’t-”

“Maybe _you_ can’t but _we_ can!” Asher gave Mallory a tight hug and slowly waded into the water, making sure to take his shoes and socks off beforehand, and stopped when he was halfway in. Mallory followed, far slower than Asher, and held onto his neck, looking absolutely terrified.

“Please don’t let me drown…”

“I promise not to!” Asher began to swim out, heading straight for the island. Luckily, it wasn't very far away, after all, this was just a room and not a real beach. It still felt like eternity for Mallory though. He kept his eyes tightly shut, letting out a quiet whimper every time his face was a little too submerged into the water. Thankfully, they quickly got to the island. Asher tapped Mallory’s shoulder gently, giving him a warm smile.

“Thank you…” Mallory whispered. He just got a nod from Asher in return. He grabbed the key and the envelope, his movements a little jerky. He didn’t think putting the envelope in his pocket would be smart, so he just wrapped his arms around Asher’s neck, trying to keep it out of the water. He still kept his eyes shut, obviously still terrified. About halfway back to the shore, he felt the himself fully submerge just for a second, and let out a scream, flailing his limbs.

“Mallory! Hold-”

“STOP IT! I’M SORRY MOM, PLEASE! PLEASE STOP!”

None of them have ever heard such a shrill, terrified scream come from him. He continued flailing, and Asher quickly grabbed him by his waist, having to drag him the rest of the way while getting hit in the face by flailing limbs. Mallory wasn’t doing it on purpose. He was just so fucking terrified that his _she_ was trying to kill him _again_ , that he was going to drown and die and it would be painful and horrible and he’d never see Finn again.

* * *

 

From the shore, Finn heard the screams and was trying to shake off the effects of the poison to no avail.

“S’okay...?" he slurred, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Shit, shit, shit!” he heard Damian yell, scrambling to get up from wherever he was.

Before the two knew it, Asher and Mallory reached the shore. Mallory tore himself for Asher’s grip and crawled away from the water, sobbing loudly, apologising to his mother and begging her not to hurt him. Damian ran over, shoo-ing Asher to Finn, and reached for Mallory, only for his hand to be slapped away and for Mallory to scream at him.

  
“DON’T MAKE ME GO BACK!”

“Mallory! Look around you! You’re safe, okay? We can leave.”

He finally got a hold of Mallory’s shoulders, after being shoved away multiple times, and gently shook him.  Mallory’s screams quieted down a bit, though that was more due to his throat hurting. He was still sobbing loudly, Damian's shirt getting absolutely soaked in tears, but he didn't mind. Mallory was still shaking horribly. Damian hushed him, rubbing his back soothingly, trying his best to comfort him as quickly as he could. He had never had to comfort someone before, so he wasn't sure if it was helping or not. It took some time, but he eventually quieted down and opened his eyes, locking them with Damian.

“I… where’s mom-”

“Not here. You’re safe, okay? You did great,” Damian gave him a smile and helped him up, holding his waist, seeing as Mallory’s legs were weak, and led him to Finn and Asher, who were having their own conversation. Mallory looked awful. His eyes were darting around, making sure that he really was safe, and it broke Damian's heart.

* * *

 

"What..."

"Mallory got real scared but Damian's taking care of him so don't worry!” Asher exclaimed, picking Finn up with ease.

"He...." Finn began, groaning in pain. "Where..." Asher watched as Mallory and Damian came closer, though fairly slow as to make sure Mallory wouldn't fall, and smiled.

"Right here! Don't worry!” Damian and Asher shared a look.

“Let’s go. It would be better if you were far from this room, right?” Damian asked calmly. Mallory nodded weakly and Asher adjusted his hold on Finn. The quickly made their way out, Mallory still letting out a choked sob every few seconds. They shut the door and all sat down in the hall, catching their breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahah yeah this is not happy. Comments and Kudos are amazing so if you like it please tell me!


	13. Sixth Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow! A long interlude! This is a first, huh? But yeah some hurt h/c for you guys

When they made themselves comfortable on the floor, that same crackling sound was heard yet again, followed by the dreaded voice.

“It’s just… so _horrible_ , isn’t it? That your own mother would try to kill you in front of all those people? I wonder what you could have possibly done to anger her in such a way… After all, she wouldn’t have tried to hurt you if you were a good boy, right?”

Just as always, her voice quickly died down, leaving the group in near-silence. The only sounds heard were the _drip drop_ of the water droplets hitting the wooden floorboards, the not-so distant crackling of the fire, and Mallory’s ragged breaths. The silence dragged out, becoming a little uncomfortable for all of them. If Mallory was coherent enough to understand what she had just said, he didn’t show it.

After a few more seconds of silence, Damian cleared his throat and turned to Mallory.

“So uh… your mom. Why did she…?” Damian began, unsure how to tackle this.

“Please, don’t... I really… I really can’t talk about it.”

Damian just nodded in understanding. It probably wasn't a good idea to push it, and he didn’t plan to.

Finn’s eyes fluttered open and he forced himself to stay awake, tilting his head to get a better look at Mallory.

"Mallor...y..."

He reached out towards Mallory, who gently took his hand, giving him a weak smile. Finn could feel just how bad Mallory was shaking.

"Hey..." Mallory answered quietly.

"You can..." Finn began, pausing to lick his lips, "Put me down..."

"Oh! Are you sure?" Asher asked, not so sure he believed that Finn could support himself alone.

"Yeah, yeah...I'm fine."

"If you're sure..." Asher was hesitant but set Finn down on his feet anyways. It was a little hard to maneuver, especially with Mallory refusing to let go of Finn’s hand, but he eventually managed it. On his feet for the first time in a while, Finn wobbled a bit, feeling the smallest bit of nausea still there. The other two made sure to steady him on Mallory, careful that he wouldn’t fall.

"S’okay...?" Finn asked, his eyes feeling heavy.

"Not really..." Because of course he wasn't. How could be be okay? He could have drowned. "Are you... sure you're okay to stand...?"

"I'll be fine..."

Mallory nodded and shut his eyes, trying to relax his nerves, though it didn't really help. "What the fuck was _that_?" he asked, terror audible in his tone, to no one in particular.

How the fuck did she know? No one knew but him and his mom. And, god, he thought they were done! He was sure that the fucking dining room would be the last room, but no. Of course it wasn't.

"Was what...?" Damian asked quietly, his arms crossed.

"Mallory thought he was drowning! And he was scared that his mommy was drowning him!" Asher answered a little too enthusiastically. Mallory flinched at it, which Asher quickly apologised for.

"Mm...hey…” Finn squeezed his hand comfortingly and gently pulled him into a hug, wanting to comfort him as much as he possibly could. Mallory held his boyfriend close, feeling safe in his arms. He really didn’t want to let go any time soon.

* * *

 

Damian remembered the envelope and was surprised to see that Mallory still held it in his hands, and he was even more surprised that it wasn't soaked, just a little crumpled. Who the fuck has water-proof envelopes? He carefully took it from Mallory’s grasp and opened it, moving away from the others. Inside was a standard piece of paper with… god, could he even call it a poem? It was definitely something.

_The flower blooms beautifully before its time_   
_Though to touch it would be a crime._   
_The first to do so, without regret,_   
_Was someone it would never forget._   
_The flower could do nothing but wait,_   
_Until the appetite, that it could sate,_   
_Was full and overjoyed, and now glad_   
_That this was an experience the flower had had._

He reread the poem a couple of times, letting the words sink in. Well that was... definitely something that Damian did _not_ need to see. Really. What the fuck. Did that woman really spend time on this? What the _genuine_ fuck. Shaking his head, he set the paper down. He had a pretty good idea of what his room would be… They took a lot of time in Mallory’s room, so he should do his quickly to make up for it. Damian waited for Finn and Mallory to pull away from their hug before quickly butting in.

“Well, I’m pretty sure we’re more than halfway done, so let’s do the next room quickly!” They hesitated a bit, but eventually the others murmured in hesitant agreement and looked over at Damian, who was holding the clue. Finn took Mallory’s hand again and intertwined their fingers.

“So… What’s the paper say?” Asher asked, tearing his eyes from Finn when he was convinced that he would be fine standing on his own.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. It’s mine,” Damian responded, waving it off.

“Are you sure? I mean, it would be bad to get it wrong…”

“Trust me, it’s definitely mine.”

Asher gave Damian a serious look and held his hand out. Yeah, Damian should have known he wouldn’t have gotten away with it that easily. Refusing to give him the paper would definitely raise the suspicion too… he handed it over, seeing as if he didn’t, they would go back and forth arguing over it and waste even more time. Asher smiled at Damian in response and read it aloud.

“Hm...nope! Makes no sense to me!”

“Yeah...” Finn mumbled, trying to wrap his head around it.

“So, a flower?” Asher asked, taking the paper in his hands.

Damian grimaced at that. Yeah, it would definitely seem like it, huh… but, of course, flowers have never really meant anything to him.

“No...a doll. The symbol will _definitely_ be a doll, no doubt about it.”

If Asher wanted to ask about why Damian was so sure about it being a doll rather than a flower, he didn’t show it. He just nodded and walked off, carefully this time. Damian took the key from Mallory’s pocket and gave him a wink, which Mallory decided to ignore.

“Oh, here it is!” They joined Asher and Damian put the key into the keyhole, pausing before he unlocked it.

“Look… I know what’s gonna be in that room and just… promise me that none of you will touch anything. If you think the key is somewhere, just tell me.”

“But um.... wouldn’t it be faster for all of us to look?” Mallory asked, raising an eyebrow. He was trying to act confident for their sake and Damian couldn't help but feel sorry that Mallory was forced into this position.

“This is different. Seriously, don’t touch anything, okay?” He waited for all of them to agree, only unlocking the door then. He took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself for what he’d see. When he opened the door, they found themselves in a motel room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna be posting the next chapter later today, hopefully


	14. Motel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't fun. Tw for implied past rape and pedophilia, and also a panic attack/flashback

The scent of cigar smoke hung thick in the air, causing Finn to wrinkle his nose. The room looked fairly filthy, aside from the mirror that was in pristine condition. As disturbing as the smells and the room were, the most concerning of all was the trail of blood leading to another door. There was also a large spot on the bed that was absolutely saturated with blood that looked relatively new.

Damian didn’t really stop to take in his surroundings, he just noticed the trail and immediately headed to the door, opening it without a word. They managed to all crowd into the room, which turned out to be a bathroom, gagging at what they saw.

“Is- is that real blood?” Mallory choked out.

The bathtub was filled to the top with blood, nearly overflowing. Sitting in it was a porcelain doll, only its head showing. Damian froze at the sight of it. Of course it looked like him, why was he surprised? He should have expected this.

“Alright, you guys might want to step back a bit.” The others did as told and Damian carefully raised the doll out of the tub, trying his best to ignore the cuts and burns that littered the chest and groin, and dropped it on the ground. He quickly brought his heel down on the head, causing it to make a sickening crunching sound. He knew that the others were probably terrified, or at least very concerned at whatever the hell was going on in this room.

_Just act like it doesn’t affect you, as usual. You’ve dealt with this multiple times before. The others went through worse._

Damian kneeled down and brushed some of the shards away, grabbing the key, noting there was nothing else in there. “There’s no clue.”

“Maybe it’s somewhere else?” Asher suggested, the concern audible. It was likely that that was the case. But where else would it be?

He looked over at the tub, wondering if maybe… just maybe it was in there? He groaned in annoyance before plunged his arms into the blood, feeling around his a piece of paper or maybe something that was laminated? He didn’t have any luck, though, and only accomplished to get absolutely covered in blood.

“Jesus, Damian!” Mallory yelped, pulling Finn back.

“Hey, it could have been in there, you never know!” He tried opening the tap, turning on the shower, but apparently someone wasted all their money on the fucking fake beach. He walked back to the main room, using the dry part of the sheet to try wipe the blood off of his arms. He only succeeded in getting half of it off, which was good enough for him.

Mallory had absolutely no idea what was going on, but was pretty concerned by the fucking tub of blood. What the fuck was that for? His room had taken enough out of him. He was ready to go home and like, cry in the bathroom, but now he had to deal with this, and most likely two more rooms? That's bullshit. He didn't sign up for this.

He watched as Damian-calmly- wiped the blood off, with no expression. It made Mallory feel a bit embarrassed by his own reaction to his room. If Damian was able to be so calm, why couldn't he? God, this didn't feel right at all.

Asher too was concerned about all of this, but more so by the creepy doll. That and Damian’s reactions to everything, like this was just normal for him. He just smashed that doll like it was nothing! Did he expect this? Why did Damian immediately head to the bathroom? Questions swirled in Asher's head, but he couldn't find a reasonable explanation to any of them, which confused him. This was really starting to scare Asher, and he didn't like this. 

Damian let out a loud, dramatic sigh which broke the others out of their thoughts.

“Alright, let’s try again…” Damian checked the dresser first, only finding female school uniforms and a small fabric doll, blood soaking the crotch area. That was something he refused to acknowledge, and he quickly shut the dresser doors. He checked the wastebasket, only finding tissues. Gross. The others silently watched as Damian quickly checked everything, an annoyed expression on his face.

“Maybe the bedside table…?” Mallory suggested.

“True, thanks,” Damian yanked open the drawer and froze. It was completely empty aside from one single picture. He quickly grabbed it before the others could see the image and held it close. It was… a picture of him. When he was younger. He didn’t even remember there being a fucking camera then. God, where the _fuck_ did she get this picture? It was pretty bad quality, but he could still make out… enough.

It was shitty enough quality for it to be taken from a video. A video. There was a video of him. There was a fucking video of him that anyone could access. Even if he took it down, people probably fucking downloaded it and jerked off to it. His paranoia only grew worse, imagining worse and worse scenarios. The others watched as Damian stared at this picture, his body getting tenser as the seconds passed.

The longer he looked at the picture, the worse he got. It felt as if everything was too hot, that the air was constricting him. Suddenly their looks felt wrong, filthy and he was _back there_ and he could just _feel_ the hands touching him everywhere, going _lower_ and _lower_ and-

“Damian...? What’s the picture?” Mallory’s voice broke him out of it. He just shook his head and gagged. He seriously felt like he was going to throw up. Well, at least there was a bathroom, right? He shut his eyes and shoved the picture in his pocket, taking a few deep breaths.

He couldn’t waste time, he just needed to ignore this. It should be easy. He wasn't back there will all those disgusting people. He was here, in this fucking nightmare house, and he needed to finish this room as soon as he could. He crammed down his anxieties and forced himself into the right headspace, not wanting to take more time just because he felt a bit nauseous or whatever.

“Sorry, sorry! That’s just uh… not… good. I’m fine, seriously. Don’t worry,” He gave them an obviously fake smile and rushed back to the other side of the room, pretending to check under furniture, but he was really just trying to get his breathing in check because it felt like he just got his heart ripped out and torn into a million pieces and he could just feel the tears.

“God this clue is really annoying, huh?” His voice was so obviously wavering, and he cringed a bit at it. God, he did not need the others to worry about him right now. He knew that they were talking to him, but he just blocked out the noise, trying to focus on the objective. He eventually found himself back near the bed, shoving his hand into the pillowcase. Among the cotton stuffing, he could feel a paper.

The relief he felt was immeasurable, and he pulled out and shoved both the key and the paper into Mallory’s hands before running out of the room. The others quickly followed, their questions in their heads dying out when they saw him on the ground, curled up in a ball, hyperventilating.


	15. Seventh Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's more fun than 2 people panicking at once? 3 people! I guess a quick tw for a bit of victim blaming

Before they could say anything, Damian shakily held his arm out, one finger raised, as if saying _give me a minute_. Unsure of what to do, or even of what had just happened in that room, they all set themselves down, wondering if they should comfort him or say anything. Damian’s breathing eventually got steadier and more relaxed, and he raised his head.

“Hah… that was pretty pathetic… Sorry. Let’s just continue.” His voice was quieter and scratchier than before.

“What? Damian. That wasn't pathetic!” Asher gently grabbed Damian’s arm, causing Damian to tense up but not pull away. Noticing this, Asher quickly let go and apologised.

Seriously, what was going on? He definitely got worse when he saw the picture. What was on that picture and why did he not want them to see it? He’s never seen Damian that distressed before! It was kinda scary… And trying to act like he was fine? Everyone knew how bad of an actor he was! It only proved that something was wrong.

“What was that picture?”

Damian gagged again, and looked like he was about to throw up, before swallowing the bile back down.

“No- God, no. I can’t… It’s bad. Fuck, you guys would be so disgusted…”  
_Of me._

Damian took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. This shouldn’t have affected him as badly as it did. God he was so fucking _weak_. It wasn't even that bad! He wouldn’t have died or anything. So what if it hurt, it had been his choice. He let it happen. He _wanted_ it. Continuing his streak of bad luck, the telltale sound of the intercom system picked up.

“Do you like your present? You wouldn’t believe how long it took to get such a pretty picture of you! Why don’t you show it to your friends? I’m sure they’re dying to see it. And who knows, maybe they’ll want to see more?”

The possible contents of the picture already concerned the others, and what she said didn’t make it any better. It must have been something _really_ bad.

“You don’t have to show it to us…” Finn whispered.

“Wasn't planning on it.” Damian responded quickly. He rubbed his hands over his face, accidentally smearing some blood all over his cheeks and forehead. Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself up and helped Finn up, wincing at the feeling of Finn’s hand on his, though easily masked it as pain from the rope burns from the beginning. He should probably avoid physical contact if he didn’t want to completely shut down. He noticed Finn staring at him, not moving, not saying anything.

"Yes?"

"Damian..." Finn wasn't sure what to ask, or even how to word what he did. He reached out towards Damian, but hesitated. Damian didn’t lean in or move away from him and he couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

"I'm...not sure what..." he started. "What happened in there..."

"It was different. There wasn't actually a tub of blood there. No dolls either."

That wasn't what Finn meant and Damian knew it. He knew he wouldn’t get anything from him now. Finn went to hug Damian, but changed his mind when he was reminded off the blood soaking his upper body. He gently took ahold of Damian’s shirt collar and pulled him down to give him a kiss on the cheek. Normally, Damian would have been ecstatic, would have made a joke about Finn liking him more than Mallory, but there was none of that this time. He swallowed down the urge to throw up.

"Well, anyways. Sorry you had to see that. You didn't get any of that blood on you did you?" he asked, acting as if he were fine.

"No, I'm fine." Finn gave Damian a smile and walked off to the others. Damian looked over to the fire, noting how much closer it had gotten to them.

"Looks bad... we should go."

“Right… What’s the clue?”

Mallory spent some time before answering that one, still pretty shaken by his own room and by whatever the hell just happened in Damian’s. He kind of wanted to comfort him, just like Damian did for him (which was surprising beyond belief) but he seemed to really not want it.

“Damian… if you need time-”

“No. I’m fi… Don’t worry about it. Really. I feel better.”

Mallory opened his mouth to say something else, but the look Damian gave him deterred him from saying it. Nothing any of them could say would get him to consider taking more time to himself. He handed the paper over, and Damian quickly unfolded it.

It looked like a page ripped from a kid’s book, with two kids and an older woman around a table, a jar of blackberry jam right in the center . They seemed to be eating a sandwich, smiles on their faces.

_Blackberry, blackberry tell me a tale._   
_Tell me of where in your attempt did you fail._   
_For once I touch the stuff, my sight will be no more._   
_A tale of how this town fell with one single roar._   
_I'll hide it in the porridge, I'll hide it in the pies._   
_They will never know of this town built on lies._

Asher quickly walked over to Damian and took the paper, staring at it intently. How did she know? Only the townsfolk knew of that nursery rhyme! It was something that all the parents would sing to their children! But it was different… every second line was switched to something else. This was scary. Really, really scary! Asher winced, holding his head with his other hand. Thinking about it hurt… He felt Finn looking at him with concern. He didn’t want to make Fifi worried! This really sucks...

Damian noticed Asher’s wincing and wanted to hold him, maybe hug him, but he just really could _not_ withstand contact right now.

_He was filthy. He could never wash the filth off his body. He was going to taint them._

“Doll…? Are you okay?”

Asher felt real bad. Damian had just been through something terrible, and Mallory too, and now he needed to be comforted? It was probable that it wasn't what he was thinking but… _Tell me of where in your attempt did you fail._ That was obviously referring to that day.

“My head just hurts… I’m okay!” He gave them all a bright smile and, before bounding off to find the door, gave Finn a tight hug and told him that he was feeling just fine!

Asher quickly found the door with a vial of poison scorched into the wood. The skull on the bottle leered at him, and he ducked his head to avoid its taunting cackles. Why was it so loud? Did the others not hear it? It just made his headache worse…

The others followed, hushed questions asked, but no answers received. Damian dropped the key in Asher’s hands and backed up. He looked tired. They all did, now that Asher was paying attention to their faces. Finn, especially. Though that wasn't a surprise, as the poison was probably still in his system. Mallory just looked really soaked, wincing every time a drop of water rolled down his skin. They didn’t have anything to dry themselves off with, did they? Finn needed his jacket, poor thing was shivering, Damian was just drenched in blood, and he was also soaked from the water! He really hoped they would finish soon…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I borrowed the poem but changed up every second line to both fit it better and not like you know, plagiarize it.


	16. Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hahah yeah another fun chapter. Tw for implied suicide

Asher unlocked the door, only for a wave of sickly-sweet air to overtake them. Asher knew that smell well. It was Mrs. Hagwood's famous blackberry jam. He took a cautious step into the room, freezing up when he saw the room in its entirety.

“Do we really need this key? I mean we don’t have to right! I mean, Mallory can definitely pick the lock and- and we can guess which room is next! Finn’s really smart and it’s his room so he could easily-”

“Is that really smart though? We can’t… we can’t really be sure without the hint.” Damian muttered, glancing around the room.

Asher let out a strangled sound and shook his head, going to leave the room, but Mallory quickly stopped him. “Asher, what-”

“Don’t wanna go in! You can’t make me!” He held the nursery rhyme close to his heart, his grip so tight that it crumpled the paper. Mallory looked over to Damian for help, who just shrugged and went in to explore. Great help.

“Asher, hey. The fire is getting… kind of close. I’m sorry but you have to. Look, if you think you know where it is then just tell us and we’ll get it for you. You can just stay out there.”

Asher knew that it was an option, but the more they searched the more they would see of his town and they weren’t allowed to. Outsiders weren’t allowed to see their secrets and as much as he loved these guys, they were still outsiders! If he did it quickly they probably wouldn’t see too much.

“I’ll do it…” Asher huffed with a defeated sigh. He turned to take in the view yet again. They were on a cobblestone path, leading to the town square a few ways down. Lining the path was dense forest, too thick to see much else in there, though he could have sworn he heard something howling. Arranged in a semicircle at the end of the path were a bunch of stores, their windows broken and walls stained with a red substance.

In the middle of it all was a large tree, with its gnarled branches standing strong, seemingly untouched by the massacre. There were mannequins everywhere, of every size, wearing all different types of clothing. Though, they all seemed to be wearing black for some reason. They were all lying on top of red puddles, which could be easily assumed to be blood.

Asher looked down at the bodies, recognizing each and every one of them by what they wore. It felt wrong to look at this, to be here again and not wear his Sunday best like he should be, to not be among the bodies because he _lived_.

“Asher!” He quickly turned to the church, rubbing his eyes. Why was Damian yelling at him?

“Damian, don’t scream like that!” He watched as Damian peeked his head out of the auto repair shop, looking confused.

“I didn’t…?”

Asher was surprised to see him there. It really sounded like him… Maybe _It_ was playing a trick on him again. He walked over to the church, shaking a bit when he came across the bloody steps. This is where they all got the poison to do them in. Opening the doors, he could have sworn he caught a note of the organs playing, which only got him even more curious. Just as expected, there was a mannequin on the altar, wearing a priest’s outfit.

“Father…”

He walked over to it and got on his knees, studying the outfit. It was all wrong… he would have never worn something like this. But it was still him. Asher quickly whispered out a prayer for him and kissed its blank face before getting back up.

He quickly checked for the key, even looking in the secret rooms, but came up with nothing. He left the church and was about to head to the large common building when he noticed that the others were looking at him in concern.

“Asher, are you okay?” Mallory asked, the worried tone in his voice clear as day. Asher didn’t even have to think about it.

“Nuh-uh. I hate this. I just wanna leave,” Turning his back to them, he headed to his destination, hearing their footsteps behind him. Probably smart, he didn’t want them to see too much of his town after all!

He quickly climbed up the stairs, humming along to one of the nursery rhymes that the mothers would always sing to their children. Reaching the top of the stairs, he swung the door open, revealing the small room with a disturbing amount of bodies. There wasn't much in this room, just shelves, a desk, and a full wall window. Maneuvering around the dozens of mannequins, he began searching through the records, pausing a bit at some of them.

“You think it’s here?” Mallory asked, eyes searching the shelves.

“I know it’s not… I just don’t wanna go...there…” Asher pouted.

Damian pursed his lips and took a step forward because, as usual, he’d have to be the rational one. Great. “Hey...do... Asher. Do you want to tell us where-”

“No!” They were all taken aback by how _angry_ he sounded. Asher didn’t turn to them, just dropped the records and walked over to the window, pressing his hands against the pane.

“Don’t wanna go… It’s scary. They’re gonna yell at me for not being with them! It’s not my fault though! I was gonna join them but...:” He pressed his hands against his temples, squeezing his eyes shut. “Head hurts…”

Damian had genuinely no fucking idea how to respond to this. When he saw the dolls, he’d honestly been terrified, expecting the worst. Thankfully it wasn’t the same kind, but they were still in pools of fucking blood. God, this place was seriously fucked up. Was this supposed to be some kind of mass murder? Maybe mass suicide? He watched as Asher unlatched the window and opened it, sitting down at the edge. They all got closer, just in case something bad happened.

“This is hiiiiiiiiigh up! No wonder he died so fast. His body went _splat_! There was blood everywhere!” It was almost dizzyingly high. You know, if he looked _juuuuust_ the right way, he could see the body!

Finn was definitely more than a little concerned with what was happening. Moving away from Mallory, after insisting that _yes, I can move on my own now, don’t worry_ , he carefully walked towards Asher and kneeled down, wincing a bit.

“Asher, what happened? Can you tell us?”

“We all died ‘cause that’s what _He_ wanted.”

“But you’re not dead… Wait, who?”

“I died but then I lived!” After saying this, to answer the second question Asher just vaguely motioned at the painted sky and swung his legs back into the room. He gave Finn a tight hug and scampered back down the stairs without any other words.

That interaction left Finn with even more questions than answers but it was probably a better idea to follow him to make sure he didn’t get hurt. He nudged Mallory and rushed down, trying to catch up with Asher.

* * *

 

Asher had already made it to where he knew the key would be. He didn’t wanna go in there. It was scary...But if he went, he would find a key! And he needed to find the key! He nervously entered the bakery, the scent of blackberry pie even stronger than before. He continued on into the back room, opening up the trap door. He felt a sharp pain in his head and let out a whine. Would it stop hurting if he left? He hoped so. Throwing the door open, he descended the stairs, only to freeze up at the sight. He heard the others come up behind him, gasping in shock.

There were two bodies in front of them. One of a young girl with brown hair, and another of an older woman with blonde hair.

“Are those fucking corpses!?” Mallory exclaimed in disgust.

“I don’t- I mean, I think it’s just a disturbingly realistic doll. I hope,” Damian winced.

Asher ran over to the bodies (dolls) and hugged the smaller one extremely tightly. Letting out a blood curdling scream, he held it close, rocking it. It seemed as if he were the missing part of the puzzle, his body completing the image of pain and suffering shown in front of the others.

“Maggie! Maggie... I’m s-so sorry! I didn’t- I couldn’t- I’m sorry!” He began to wail even louder, apologizing to the doll, who he kept calling Maggie. His visceral fear and pain was visible to all of those around. “WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE WITHOUT ME?”

Mallory, sensing that it was probably a bad idea to leave him like this, went to grab his arm but was quickly shoved back.

“DON’T TOUCH HER DON’T EVER TOUCH HER!” he screamed again, tears streaming down his face.

“Hey so what the fuck,” Mallory backed away, looking at Damian for guidance.

“Okay! Idea. Find the key and clue, then we uh… drag him out?” Finn gave Damian a sharp look and began to inch around Asher, searching for the key. The others followed, trying not to aggravate the crying boy any more than he already was.

As Damian was trying to maneuver himself past Asher, he nearly tripped on something. Letting out an annoyed hiss he leaned down to pick up whatever it was, only to hear a _clink_. Backing up into better light, he saw that what we was holding was a bottle of poison. Fucking poison. He quickly uncapped it and took the key, showing it to the others. _Find the clue_ , he mouthed.

Finn nodded and turned to look at the doll that Asher wasn't holding. She looked like an older woman… who was she to him? Her eyes were frozen open in fear, a pained expression visible on her face as she stared at the ceiling. Though, he noticed that she held something in her hands. Hissing Damian’s name, he pointed at her hands that were clasped around something. Damian gave Finn a nod and grabbed whatever it was from her hands and shoved it into his back pocket. Now for the hard part.

“We’re gonna have to… you know… take it away from him.”

“Damian he’ll literally bite your hand off,” Finn watched as Asher held onto ‘Maggie’, now singing to it, which wasn't concerning in the slightest.

“Alright… How about we let him keep it and we try to slowly get him away from it as time passes?” They didn’t really have another choice. The other two nodded, and Finn slowly walked up to Asher, making sure not to get too close.

“Asher? We found the key, it’s time to go. Do you want to bring… Maggie with you?”

“I don’t wanna lose her again!” Asher sniffled, nodding.

“Come on, let’s go,” Finn game him a warm smile and held out his hand, which Asher took after moving the doll to his other arm. He gave the other doll a final look.

“Bye mommy… I’ll take care of her real good!”

Damian definitely cringed at that. He was just glad that this room was over. He shoved the key and clue into his pocket and followed the others out.


	17. Eighth interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This and the next chapter were mostly written by Dante but I did chime in with some paragraphs here and there.

As Damian rejoined the others, he couldn't help but notice the awkward tension in the air. Finn was nervously eyeing Asher, who was now softly humming to the doll, and Mallory was avoiding at looking at Asher altogether. Damian couldn't blame them, as he also kept his distance as he cleared his throat to speak.

"We're almost done...let's just get this over with."

He reached to grab the next clue, but grew very confused as he felt something flat and made of plastic. He pulled out a CD case- Panic! at the Disco. Finn's favorite. But why a CD? They wouldn't have to find a way to play it, would they?

"Uh. What the fuck."

Finn looked over at Damian, spotted the case, and immediately groaned. Damian walked over and handed him the case, which Finn took begrudgingly, turning it over in his hands to look at the back.

"Probably mine."

Mallory grunted in agreement as Finn opened the case, eyes scanning over the slip of paper inside listing the track list. He was silent.

"Little prince? What does it say?" Damian asked, playing close attention to his expressions. 

"...definitely mine. Um..." Finn closed the case, not allowing Mallory to peer over his shoulder and look at what was written there. "Look for...a door with a fish on it."

"A...fish?" Damian didn't do a very good job at hiding his confusion. Mallory wasn't much better, though. 

"Yeah," Finn looked over at Asher, who was now braiding the doll's hair. Looks like they would have to find the door themselves. They all went looking, keeping a close watch on Asher in the corner of their eyes.

"Think this is it," Mallory called out, waving everyone over to a door with a sign nailed into it. It was a colorful sign with a few smiling fishes painted on it- a kind of sign you would hang on your door as a child to differentiate your room from the others. Finn sighed as Damian handed him the key. His hands were shaking. He couldn't seem to get the key into the lock.

"Little prince..."

"I don't want to do this," Finn whined, dropping the key amidst his shaking, "Please don't make me do this..."

"Little prince... I know but, you have to. Look, maybe you can just... shut your eyes and we'll lead you around?"

"No," Finn responded a little too quickly, "No, no...that won't work."

Mallory bent down and picked up the key again, putting it into the lock for Finn. "It'll be over soon, okay? We're here, too, babe. You'll be okay."

Finn nodded, but his expression didn't look so sure. The sound of the door unlocking made him flinch. Mallory gave Damian a look before opening the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahah haven't posted in a while woops my bad


	18. Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tw for implied child abuse and suicide

To everyone's (but Asher- he was still mostly distracted with his doll, but he was following behind the others) surprise, the door opened to lead into a long hallway. Finn rushed in and started walking down, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. As he got farther in, though, he noticed that there was newspaper clippings and pictures littering the walls. As he approached one, his eyes focused on the headline- '17 year old highschool girl found dead'- he immediately reeled back and started to go down to the end of the hallway at a faster pace than before, not bothering to check to make sure the others were following.

* * *

 

Mallory quickly followed behind, not wanting to leave his boyfriend alone. He had obviously seen the flinch and was sure it wasn’t a good sign. By the way these rooms were turning out, this was probably going to be really bad for Finn. As he jogged down the hall he noticed the papers on the wall, but didn’t pay them much attention until he collided with the wall after making a sharp turn. He let out an annoyed hiss and was about to run off again, when he saw the picture right in front of him. It was a picture of a girl, hung with a noose. He paused, needing a moment to take in just what he was looking at. What the hell did this have to do with Finn? God, he really shouldn’t have left his side. Hearing the others get closer, he continued on his way, a little faster than before.

* * *

 

Asher looked up to see Mallory rush off and followed at a much slower pace. He wasn’t really paying much attention to his surroundings, playing more Maggie. He continued to braid her hair as he walked, humming to himself. Why did the others rush off so fast? Must be something bad… Oh yeah! Fifi seemed weird… Wonder why? He kissed Maggie on the head and looked at the walls, noting the papers, but didn’t pay attention to them. Not until Maggie told him that _Fifi was upset! You should try to understand!_

  
Stopping in his tracks, he took a few steps back and decided to look at one of the papers, because Maggie told him he should and Maggie was always right! He found himself looking at a picture of a crime scene, police tape everywhere. He noted a noose and a chair on its side, and the plushies on the bed. Must have been someone nice… Did she also die? After looking at the picture a bit more, he continued on his way, skipping. Where was Fifi now? Probably far away!

* * *

 

Damian waited until the others were out of sight before closing the door to look at it again. He looked at the sign, running his fingers across it. This room was already different from all the others. What was the purpose of that? He had a really bad feeling about this one. He took a final look at the fire, noting how close it was, before opening the door again and going in. These rooms were their worst memories. Mallory’s was his mother trying to drown him, Asher’s was definitely some sort of mass suicide which definitely came as a surprise, and his was… well, _that_. He did not look forward to this one.

As he walked, he took note of everything hung on the wall. The girl again, from Finn’s first room. So she killed herself, huh? And she was definitely close to Finn. Probably dating? That or best friends. Either way, no wonder he kept the picture of them. Finding a newspaper clipping on it, he ripped it off and shoved it into his back pocket, remembering the other picture in there. He’d burn that later. More importantly, he was definitely going to look more into what happened to this girl. He eventually found himself caught up with the others, curious as to why they had stopped, until he saw it too.

* * *

 

At the end of the winding hallway was a noose hanging from the ceiling with a knocked over chair beside it. It was the exact same scene that was pictured in the newspaper clippings, but there was something more off-putting about seeing it in person...almost as if seeing it made it all the more real. Damian looked at Finn for an explanation, but Finn wasn't reacting to it at all. He was trying his best to ignore it and continued on to the second door right below it, pushing it open without asking the others. The distraction of the noose was collectively dismissed when Finn let out a choked sob that attracted everyone's attention.

The revealed room seemed to be a hospital room, complete with a bed and a flat lining heart monitor. At first glance, it was assumed that this was the girl's room, the one in the newspaper clippings, but Finn's rush to the windowsill said otherwise. Mallory followed after him to make sure he didn't do anything out of character, but Damian was more hesitant. He didn't like this. He didn't like the way Finn was reacting to this. Someone he knew died- not just the girl, someone else. Someone in the pictures he was picking up. Finn let out another strangled sob, a few tears running down his cheeks. Damian had a strong urge to comfort him, but as he got closer, he grew to realize why Mallory hadn't spoken. The pictures looked like...family portraits. Family portraits of Finn with his parents. One of his parents was dead. How the hell did they not know about this before?  
Mallory reached out, his hand hovering over Finn's shoulder, but he pulled back, heading over to Damian instead. "I think we should give him...some space. For now. Look for the key," Mallory whispered, looking back at Finn, "I'll stay close to him."

  
Damian nodded. To be honest, he wasn't sure if he even wanted to explore. He just wanted to get out of here more than ever now. He looked over at Asher, who was clinging to the doll and looking at his surroundings with confusion. He wouldn't be able to help, so it was up to him to find the key. Hoping that Finn wouldn't notice, he began rummaging through the room's contents, searching through and underneath the bed, picking up the flowers and looking through the drawers full of bandages. He returned to Mallory, sighing.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"There's...another door."

Mallory looked in the direction that Damian gestured towards. In the back of the room there was another door covered in stickers- comic book characters, sparkly zoo animals, and more fish, particularly orange ones.

"It's probably in there, then," Mallory didn't seem too bothered, but this terrified Damian. He wasn't sure what to expect, and that scared him more than anything. If the key wasn't in here, that means that this room wasn't _good enough_. There was something worse than losing a friend to suicide and losing a parent, and Damian was starting to not want to know what it was.

He looked over at Finn, who had managed to undo all the frames and stuff all of the pictures into his pockets. He looked like he was holding back the need to cry, and he was visibly exhausted, but it looked like he could manage to push forward.

"Little prince...? The key isn't in here, we need to move to the next room, okay...?"

Finn only sniffled and wiped his nose with his sleeve, trudging towards the next door without a word. Damian watched closely, making sure to account that Asher was following along with them. The paranoia he was feeling was immeasurable. What horror was going to await them behind that door? He held his breath as Finn turned the knob, expecting the most gory, vile, disgusting sight he's ever seen in his life, but he was perplexed by what he saw instead.

* * *

 

It was a children's room. Blue cloud wallpaper, fuzzy carpet, a toddler sized bed with Disney bed covers. There was a corner with a bookcase stuffed with picture and chapter books, stuffed animals were lined up on the dresser, a closet with colorful scribbled drawings taped to the doors. It wasn't a bad sight at all, if anything it was pretty...cute? It took the three of them- Damian, Asher, and Mallory- a while to process the room before them. It didn't seem that bad, but then they noticed that Finn was hyperventilating.  
"No...nonononono this can't be happening..." Finn wheezed, frantically pacing around the room, his eyes wide and darting around, looking for an exit. "I want to leave I want to leave I want to leave I want to leave-"

"We...we just need to find the way out, it'll be okay. Calm down, breathe, hey-" Damian stammered, shocked and confused by his reaction.

"I left all of this behind...I shouldn't be here... I shouldn't be back...why am I back...what did I do wrong..."

"Babe-" Mallory started, just as shocked as Damian.

Finn's breathing grew more erratic and his speaking was beginning to sound more rushed and in the moment, as if he was pouring out his thoughts. "It's small it's so small I can't leave I can't get out I can't breathe I'm sorry please don't do this please-"

* * *

 

Mallory wasn't sure what to do- he's never seen Finn act like this before, so...so helpless. So scared? It made him feel absolutely terrible. He tried to grab Finn and calm him down, but he broke off to resume his pacing. Mallory hated this. What did he mean by 'I shouldn't be back'? This seemed like his childhood room, why did he have such a negative connection with it? He didn't know what was making Finn so scared, but he wish he knew so he could get rid of the driving force.

Not only this, but his entire section- what was up with the flat lining in the hospital part? He had obviously lost a parent, that much was evident- but why hasn't he mentioned it before? And what the _hell_ was up with that noose? Who was the girl in that newspaper, and why does he have no clue who she is? What does she have to do with Finn? There was so much he didn't understand, so much he didn't know about Finn...why did he hide all of this from him?

There was a slight crackling sound as the speakers were turned on. Damian froze, waiting to hear instructions or a taunting insult, but he heard something that shocked him. It sounded like an older man, yelling in an angry tone.

'What the fuck is wrong with you?!'

While it left the three boys puzzled, it seemed to launch Finn into hysteria. He _responded_ , in an eerily similar tone to the boy who responded on the recording, 'Daddy, please calm down!'

"Please, no...please don't...I didn't mean it..."

'You think this is all my fault, don't you?'

"No! Please! I didn't do anything!" Finn was shrinking with every word, trying to make himself seem as small as possible- the same trait Damian saw in his high school pictures.

'Come here, you ungrateful-'

"NO! PLEASE, DAD, PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!" Finn erupted into shaking sobs, shrinking down into the corner of the room.

'GET OVER HERE!'

Finn curled up into a ball, tightly covering his face. He was hiccupping violently, having difficulty responding. "I-I'M S-SORRY!"

“Shit!” Damian grit his teeth and looked around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. He had a pretty good feeling that the sounds wouldn’t stop until they left this room, and an even stronger feeling that calming Finn down wasn't going to be a viable option. He quickly moved over to Mallory, who was looking more than a little horrified. “Make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. Don’t touch him either, okay?”

Mallory couldn’t do anything but nod and rushed over to Finn’s side, kneeling down but not touching him. In doing this, Finn scrambled away, his screams getting a bit more desperate. “Finn! I’m not- I’m not going to hurt you, okay?”

Finn couldn’t hear his words through the mental fog. He could hear the man’s voice everywhere, could feel it deep in his bones, and it wasn’t going away any time soon.

Through all of this, Asher became a little more aware of his surroundings, remembering where they were, and what was happening. He started over to Finn’s side, but Mallory grabbed him, giving him this _look_. “You can’t help.”

Asher wanted to help. God, all he wanted to do was help. That look on his face, his screams, all of it was so horrible and wanted to do nothing more than to just _help him_ , but Mallory told him not to, and he understood why. Mallory wanted to help too, of course he did, he loved Finn. Watching him like this killed him. God, what the fuck happened? Just what did his dad to do him? Underneath the terror and concern was rage. For his father, but also for that woman for putting him through all this.

Damian didn’t have to search too hard for the speaker. It was up on the wall, just out of reach. It was also fairly small, a lot smaller than he expected. Fucking _bitch_ would make it hard to find, of course. Though, she must not have taken into account the fact that he knew what to look for.

  
Grabbing one of the larger, hard covered books, He dragged a chair to the wall and stood on it, bringing the book down on it over, and over, and over. The sounds kept getting more and more distorted, but wouldn’t stop. Swearing, he threw the book to the side and grabbed Mallory’s knife from his pocket, not bothering to make a joke or anything, and went back to the speaker. He grabbed it, ignoring the shard of plastic embedding into his skin, and tugged and tugged until some wires come loose from the wall, cutting them while ignoring the small jolts of electricity. The sounds finally stopped, leaving them all in silence.

Though the sounds stopped, Finn didn’t look any better, still panicking and sobbing loud enough to make his voice hoarse, but at least wasn't screaming anymore. Asher reached out for Finn, who curled in on himself even more, which stopped Asher in his tracks.

“Finn…” Asher let out a whine and sat down in front of him, looking at him sadly. He really didn’t like this. Were they going to be able to leave soon? He looked over at Damian, who was turning the room upside down.

He knew that this was a nightmare scenario, but he couldn’t help but be curious about Finn’s childhood room. Of course he wasn't gonna give himself a fucking tour, but he couldn’t help but pay attention to the shit he was searching for the wrong reason. God, this really fucking sucked. How the fuck were they going to get him out of here. He’d leave that up to Mallory, honestly. He was already pulling enough slack.

Looking through the books, one with a glittery fish on the cover stuck out. Nearly ripping it out of the bookcase, he opened it up, finding the key. He had a pretty strong feeling that they didn’t need a clue, that this was the last room. After all, their time was almost up. He couldn’t help but let out a triumphant holler, shoving the key into Mallory’s face.  
“Let’s get out of this fucking hellhole!”

Mallory didn’t feel that excited, knowing that moving Finn out wouldn’t be all that easy. God, would talking even help out in any way? Well, there was only one way to check.  
“Hey babe? It’s time to go… we have the key,” No response. Finn couldn’t hear them, his ears still ringing loud.

“Fifi? I really wanna go home now!” Asher tried, his voice desperate. Still nothing.

Damian tapped Mallory shoulder and gave him a look, before running out of the room. It took Mallory a bit to understand what the fuck just happened, before realising that he probably went to go see the fire. God, they really needed more time.

“Babe _please_ ,” Mallory was seriously beginning to lose hope. He nudged Asher, motioning to Finn.

“Huh?”

“Just- continue talking to him!”

“About what?”

“Anything!”

Asher nodded, panicking before going on about something about a bakery. Mallory waited for a minute before standing up and following Damian’s path. He ran through the halls and knocked into Damian who was returning. Before Damian could fall, Mallory shot out and grabbed his arm, helping him back up. In return he got a dirty look.

“So how bad-”

“We don’t have time. We need to go _now_.”

Must be bad. Mallory nodded and they quickly returned to the other two. Asher didn’t even notice them coming in, still talking about food.

“Finn, we have to go.”

For a while, it seemed like Finn wasn’t going to respond, and that they would have to suck up their pride and pick him up without his consent. It killed all of them that they might have to hear him scream and sob even more, but it seemed like they would be left no choice.

“Go…?” Finn’s voice was hoarse and he hardly even looked up. Mallory was immediately filled with relief.

"Yeah, go. We can leave this place!"

“...he’s gone…?”

At this point, Damian was pacing nervously. They didn’t have they time for this oh god they were going to fucking die.

“Yeah! He’s gone and you’re safe! Can I pick you up?”

“Don’t touch…hurts...”

Mallory desperately looked over at Asher, who got an idea. Running over to the bed, he grabbed the blanket and one of the plushes, which he really wanted to keep but oh well, and covered Finn’s shoulders with the blanket. Finn flinched at the contact.

“Don’t hit me…”

Asher’s smile faltered at that, but he handed him the plush and recovered, giving him a great big warm smile.

“He won’t! So can he pick you up?”

"You’re not mad at me…?”

“No! We’re not mad at all, we just really want to leave, right Mallory?”

Mallory quickly nodded, hoping that Finn could see him.

“Please, Fifi, we _really_ need to go...he won’t touch you directly, I promise, we know it hurts, so we’ll be super duper careful, I promise!”

Damian was about to just pick Finn up and run with him, no matter the consequences. They were wasting too much time.

“Okay...tell him I’m sorry…” Finn gave a tiny, almost imperceivable nod, and Mallory immediately picked him up. Damian dashed out, Asher following, and Mallory taking up the rear. When they finally got out, he heard a defeated cry, and saw Damian staring at the fire in shock.


	19. Finale p.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our MCs aren't out of trouble just yet. A final, daunting task awaits them.

The fire had gotten closer, way too close for comfort, it was almost a foot away from the edge of the doorway.

"Damian, what’s wrong?” Mallory yelled over the noise of the fire roaring.

“The exit! The fucking exit is down there!” Looking deep into the fire, focusing really hard on where Damian was pointing, Mallory looked a couple of doors down and found one with the word EXIT carved in.

The weight of Damian’s words finally crashed down on him. They’d get burned pretty badly if they went, and the smoke was already getting bad enough. He covered Finn’s face with the blanket to block him from breathing in the smoke, causing Finn to struggle against the contact and whine. He quickly apologised before instructing Asher to do the same with his shirt. Asher immediately did as told and Mallory tugged him down to kneel, trying to stay under the smoke.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Damian got down as well, looking at the door with a terrified expression. However, his expression turned into one of hope when he heard her voice.

“Now, it won’t help too much, but I suppose I could give you a fire extinguisher. It should be enough to get you all to the exit with… minimal burns.”

“Please-”

“Though, of course, it won’t be easy to get,” A loud click was heard, right at the other end of the hall. “When you all came up the stairs, there was a door to your right. A supply closet. Lucky for all of you, the door’s made of iron, which, if you all remember from chemistry, has a high melting point! Though it would probably _really_ hurt to open but… oh well! There’s a fire extinguisher on there. I’ll just put it on your tab.”

Mallory coughed a bit from the smoke entering and irritating his lungs. Fuck, down _there_? That really wouldn’t be easy. Damian looked over at him and nodded, slowly getting up.

“What? Damian, you can’t-”

“Trust me, I know what I’m doing. If I’m not back in a minute, just try to make it there on your own. Better burned than dead.”

“I’m not leaving without you.”

“Then perish,” Damian took a deep breath and sprinted down the hall, wincing at the flames licking at his exposed skin. He gritted his teeth, doing his best to not gasp, because he didn’t want to suffocated right here. He’d been burned before, had been forced to hold his hand over fire, but god, nothing could ever compare to the sheer, blistering heat that he felt right now. He felt himself sweating, and could feel his skin beginning to burn, could _feel_ the skin blackening from soot.

Reaching the door, he covered his hand with his jacket and yanked it open, trying not to scream from the pain of practically branding himself with an iron fucking door. Not like he didn't feel that sort of pain before. He ran in, sucking in a deep breath, and grabbed the extinguisher, noticing just how burnt his jacket was. He turned around and ran back, struggling to not breathe again.

As he ran, he smelt something weird. Only when he nearly tripped over a broken beam did he realise that it was his own cooked flesh that he was smelling. The suffocation, along with the pain of the flames and the scent, caused parts of his vision to black out. He felt like he was going to seriously faint any second.

He could imagine his burnt corpse on the ground of this place, never to be found. He'd never tease Mallory again. Never play a game with Asher again. Never... never see Finn again. No one would care about him. No one would come to his funeral. He'd be forgotten, just as he always imagined he'd end up. It was a horrible, painful death that he couldn't run away from, because he was too fucking _weak_ to withstand some heat.

"You can do it!" he heard Mallory yell from the other side of the flames, his voice cracking in the middle of the sentence..

Hearing his words, and seeing an outline of the bodies on the other side, _relying_ on him to _save them_ , he felt a burst of energy power him on and he leaped out of the flames, dropping onto the floor.

“Damian! Are you okay?” Asher cried.

  
Damian was coughing violently, trying to suck in as many breaths as he could. So no, he really wasn't okay. Letting himself breathe a bit, though not wanting to waste too much time, he forced himself to stand up, wincing at his clothes rubbing against his burns. He could just feel his legs shaking.

  
“G-Great,” He gave Asher a thumbs up and pulled the pin, squeezing the handle on the top. He quickly made a path to the exit, using up the entire thing, and throwing it off to the side when he was done. Ripping open the door after unlocking it, they all ran in, finding a long hallway heading in the direction opposite to the fire. At the end of said hall, was a table with a basket, and a door with moonlight streaming in from the glass windows. Sharing a look, they all ran for it, pausing the look at the basket.

“Is that… all our stuff?” Mallory questioned.

The basket was divided into four parts, papers with their names marking which part belonged to who. Asher moved his first plush, which was surprising because they were sure he had dropped it somewhere as they hadn’t seen it in a while, and Maggie to one arm and grabbed his things, putting them into his pocket. Damian did the same with his, wincing a bit when he moved his arm too much. Noting that Mallory and Finn couldn’t get their things, he just grabbed the entire basket.

“Do you… think it’ll be locked?” Mallory asked again.

“Maybe trapped?” Damian answered, still wincing.

They all looked at each other nervously, Finn groaning quietly. Yeah, the heat from the fire and the blanket was probably killing him, huh? Damian took a deep breath and walked up to the door, opening it slowly, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. Still nervous, they all walked out cautiously, feeling the moon on their face and the wind ruffling their hair.

“We did it…” Damian whispered, almost to himself.

* * *

 

In front of them was a fairly large car and, from what they could tell from the fire illuminating it, the keys were already in the ignition. They walked towards it, opening the doors. Still nothing. Asher hopped into the back seat, setting the doll and his plush down. Mallory moved around the the other side and, after opening the door, cautiously slid Finn in, who let out a soft whimper. He apologised and shut the door.

Damian turned to look at the house, surprised to see that it looked more like a small factory in the middle of fucking nowhere. There was genuinely nothing out here but a dead end and an abandoned factory. God, where were they? Mallory sat in the driver’s seat, not trusting Damian’s driving in the slightest, which was fair enough. Settling themselves in and turning on the air conditioning, Damian soon found a gps in the glove box. Setting it up, they found themselves to be about 3 hours away from Mallory and Finn’s house.

“This feels too good to be true…” Mallory muttered.

“Don’t jinx it,” Damian warned.

Asher giggled at that from the backseat and shoved his hand into his pocket, taking out his phone. Seeing this, Mallory quickly grabbed his phone from the basket on Damian’s lap and checked it. Almost dead. Not a surprise. He leaned back into his seat and shut his eyes, just wanting to nap. Also, some water now that he thought of it. And some food too. He cracked his eyes opened and looked over at Damian, who was taking his jacket off.

“Is it bad…?”

“I’ve had worse, honestly. Nothing too bad,” It wasn't exactly a lie. It didn’t seem like anything was third degree, mostly just first and second. He could feel the pain too, which alerted him that he didn’t completely screw his nerves up, which was good news. He’d probably get some blisters in some areas, which he didn’t look forward to. Great. Sighing, he took his phone and opened it, tensing when he saw the screen.

_New message!_

Waiting until Mallory shut his eyes again, he unlocked his phone to read the message.

_Come home immediately. I’m cashing in your favours._

He couldn’t help but let out sob at that. The weariness and stress and pain from the day had already piled onto him, and that message was his breaking point. He covered his face with his hands, feeling the tears stinging his eyes, and wept horribly because _this was too much this was too fucking much._

“Damian!” Mallory sputtered.

His was reaction was understandable and completely warranted, but it still came as a shock. No one had ever seen him cry, it was just assumed that he was physically incapable of crying.

Hearing Damian’s crying, Finn shrunk in on myself again. The sound brought him back to when he was younger. After his father would hit him, he would always go and cry afterwards. It felt like a continuation to his room and he just couldn’t do it. He wanted to disappear. Asher noticed this and poked Damian, motioning to Finn.

“Shit- Fuck. S-sorry,” Damian quickly turned on the radio to mask his sniffles, and wiped his eyes with the hem of his shirt. He leaned back into his chair, biting his bottom lip. He couldn’t cry, it would just scare Finn more. “It’s, ah, it’s okay little prince. Nothing’s wrong. You’re safe, okay? Look around you, you’re in a car. You’re not back with your dad.” Finn nodded slowly, not looking any of them in the eye. Better than nothing.

“Mallory… we should get driving.”

“Ah. Right,” Mallory looked at Damian, concerned. He felt compelled to hug him, though he knew that it probably wasn't a good idea with his burns and the blood. He pulled out of the lot and drove onto the road, adjusting the mirrors. He purposefully moved it to check on Finn and Asher. Finn was still clutching onto that plush for dear life, and Asher was paying more attention to the doll. God, this was so fucked…

“Actually… Can you drop me off at my place?” That surprised Mallory. He had expected that they’d all go back to his place and have like, a sleepover or something.

“I mean, wouldn’t a hospital be better?”

“Ah, well I can take care of… all of this. I actually know a fair amount about first aid.”

“You sure you’ll be okay?”

Damian gave him a nod and looked down at his arms, noting just how bad they looked. He still had rope burn from the beginning, combined with the blood from his room and the burns from the hall. Not to mention he still had shards of plastic embedded into his palm. He cranked the window down and began to pick the shards out, wincing every now and then. God, he really needed to clean up… Though, knowing _her_ , she probably wouldn’t give him the chance. He turned his head and decided to strike up a conversation with Asher, wanting to get his mind off of everything that happened that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's almost done woooooo! Comments and kudos are so appreciated.


	20. Finale p.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter. How will our poor kids cope?

They drove for hours in mostly silence. During their talk, Asher had fallen asleep, and Damian didn't have the heart to wake him up. It was the same with Finn. Both Damian and Mallory had felt the same pull of unconsciousness, the lull of the car's rocking making them relax far more than they should. Mallory had forced himself to stay awake. He just wanted to go home. After all of what happened, he believed that they deserved a nice, warm bed, some water, and a shower. Mallory occasionally glanced over at Damian now and then, noting his eyes were still open. He was just staring out the window with a calm, almost sad look on his face. 

"You good?" He asked, turning his eyes back to the road.

"Hm? Yeah, why?"

Damian turned to look at Mallory, that look gone. Had he been imagining it?

"You were... you know..."

"Crying?" Damian cut him off, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"Yeah... did it have to do with the picture?"

He noted how Damian hugged himself at his words, turning back to the window.

"Sort of..." He said, sounding a thousand miles away. 

Noting Damian's demeanor, he decided it was best to not continue this conversation. He quickly apologised, to which Damian didn't respond.

* * *

 

They finally reached Damian’s house and Mallory parked out in front. Damian gathered all his things and opened his door when he was held back by Mallory

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Of course! Really, you don’t have to worry about me,” He gave him a that same, fake smile he had in his room, and kissed his cheek, causing Mallory to splutter in shock. “Take care of the others for me!”

Before Mallory could say anything, he got out of the car and shut the door, waving a semi-awake Asher and Finn goodbye before turning around and heading up the stairs to his door. He wanted nothing more than to drop everything and get back in the car. He really wanted to stay with them and make sure they were all okay because hey, Mallory couldn’t do all the work himself, and even if he could, he was also pretty fucked up by his room.

He could do it. He could leave this. He could stay with them and be happy for once in his life. It wasn't that hard. He just had to turn around and walk forward. Who was stopping him? He could do this.

He couldn't.

Taking out his keys, he was trying not to think of the worst case scenario, which proved to be harder than it seemed. He unlocked the door and turned to see the car pull out and drive away. Good.

* * *

 

“I’m home…” He tossed the keys onto the table and shut the door behind him, flinching when he turned back, only to see _her_.

“Damian,” She said plainly.

“Nadine,” He responded.

She looked him over, pausing a bit when she saw his arms. Yeah, didn’t expect to hurt him that badly, did she?

“Are you alri-”

“Shut up.”

She looked surprised.

“How fucking _dare_ you bring them into this! What the fuck is wrong with you? You were angry at me, not them! You could have done the same thing with me!”

Nadine seemed to take some time to think this over. “It hurt to watch them get scared, didn’t it?”

“Fuck you.”

“So it did. It’s a reminder. I could have done… a lot worse to them, you know?”

He didn’t doubt it. He knew what she was capable of and he was terrified of what she could do to the people he loved. She had a point. Hurting him was fine but he wouldn’t learn. Hurting them? Guaranteed that he’d listen up.

“Just… please. Don’t hurt them again.”

“No promises, that’s up to you. Will you listen to me and do what I want?” He wanted to say no, wanted to spit in her face, but that wouldn’t help.

“I don’t have a choice.”

Nadine pulled him into a kiss, which he didn’t fight against. It was easier to just let go and let her do whatever she wanted. It would hurt less.

"Good, I like it when my pretty little doll knows his place."

He let out a shudder at her words, the word _doll_ especially stuck in his head. _He was a doll he was her doll that's all he was that's all he'd ever be_.

"I'm sorry..."

"If you were you shouldn't have yelled at me."

He shrunk back, letting out a quiet whimper.

"I need to punish you, sweetheart. You understand that, right?"

He nodded, not fulling understanding her words. It felt as if there was a fog in his mind.

"However... let's have some fun first, alright? It's been a while."

 _Please_ , _no_.

“Can’t I at least take a shower?”

“Later."

Grabbing the front of his shirt, she tugged him into her room, giggling in glee. Damian could feel the tears welling up again, this time just letting them flow. Maybe she’d get so turned off by the tears that she’d stop and let him fucking sleep?

Unlikely.

* * *

 

Finally reaching their destination, Mallory parked the car a block away from Finn’s apartment. He wasn't really sure what to do with it now, as it didn’t have a license plate. Was it stolen or something? Getting out of the car, he decided that that would be future Mallory’s problem.

He really just wanted to crash on the bed, a sentiment that he was sure the others would relate to. Going over to Finn’s side, he opened the car and, after making sure he was deep in sleep, carefully picked him up. Asher, having woken up when Damian left, grabbed the basket that still had Finn and Mallory’s things and got out, making sure all the doors were shut.

“Is Fifi okay?”

“I wish I could answer that, I really do…” Reaching their door, Mallory maneuvered Finn into Asher’s arms, a move proven a bit difficult by his refusal to let go of Maggie and the plush, but they eventually did it. He unlocked the door and instructed Asher to bring Finn to their room and to wait there. Asher did as told, leaving Mallory alone.

Spotting the bag that Finn had dropped after he came back from his ice cream run before all this started, he bent over and picked it up, carrying it over to the freezer. He noted that there was also a pack of Reese’s Pieces along with the now completely melted ice cream. Finn really did think of him, huh?

Smiling, he placed the ice cream in the freezer and set the candy down on the kitchen counter. He grabbed 3 cups of water, struggling with bringing them to the bedroom without dropping them, and set them down on the nightstand.

“How are you doing?” He asked.

Asher was sprawled out on the bed next to Finn. He was still holding onto that doll for dear life though. God, he _really_ needed to get that thing away from him.

“Sleepy… Mm, how about you?”

Mallory couldn’t help but he surprised by the question. “How am I?"

“Mhm! You also had a gross room!” Asher leaned over to grab one of the mugs and sipped at it a bit, staring at him intently, as if analysing his every movement.

“Ah. I’m alright, don’t worry.”

That made Asher smile. “You don’t have to lie you know? Fifi’s sleeping! What would Damian think?”

“Ah shit I never got to punch him!”

“Avoiding the question won’t help yoouuuu!”

Mallory had somehow forgotten just how hard headed the kid was. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m… exhausted. Angry. Pretty confused too? It’s just… that was a lot to take in. I mean, god, who the fuck was that woman? Why us? Shit…”

“It’s okay to feel bad… You did a lot to help us out, and I’m really glad you did! Mm, but overworking yourself sucks…”

Mallory grabbed one of the other mugs and took a gulp, realising just how thirsty he was, and downed the entire thing quickly. He felt like he hadn’t drank in a month. Asher poured some of his own water in Mallory’s mug, smiling to himself.

“I hope Damian is okay, though...I wished he stayed to have a sleepover with us!”

“Yeah, me too…” Mallory muttered. “It seemed a bit weird that he didn’t, didn’t it?”

“A little! I would’ve thought that he wanted to make sure everyone was okay, especially Finn. He cried, even!”

“Yeah...something’s up, I think, but now is definitely not the time to ask about it.”

“Mhm…”

“I might just be overthinking it, though. We’ve all been through a lot just now.”

“Maybe...but I’m too tired to think… Nuh-night,” Asher yawned, settling into the blankets.

Mallory finished his water and grabbed Asher’s mug, setting both down on the nightstand. Whispering a soft _Good night_ back to Asher, he walked over to the closet and grabbed an extra blanket and pillow, throwing both on the ground next to the bed. He gave Asher a kiss on the forehead, causing him to squeal and give Mallory a tight hug back.

“Thank you, by the way. For helping me with… not drowning,” Mallory said quietly, smiling slightly. Asher gave him a final squeeze and let go, mouthing _You’re welcome_ before shutting his eyes. Mallory walked over to the other side and kneeled in front of Finn, watching his chest rise and lower with each breath.

“I’m sorry… I love you,” He kissed Finn on the cheek and ran his fingers through Finn’s hair, watching as he snuggled into the pillow. God… What the fuck happened back there? Well, he knew, but…

He shook his head and walked back to the other side, plopping down on the floor and covering himself with a blanket he grabbed from the closet. The stress and exhaustion of the day finally hit him, and he quickly fell asleep in only a few minutes, thinking of his boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was really fun to write! Though kinda depressing due to like, you know, trauma. It'll definitely be a while before I write something this long again, especially as school started. Once again, I'd like to thank my editor and co-author Dante for helping me write some scenes and for managing all my mistakes, which were a lot. So yeah, once again, for the last time, comments and kudos own my entire ass.


End file.
